LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 
MRS.   MACKINLEY   HELM 


A    HISTOET 

OF 

THE    JEWISH    PEOPLE 

IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


EMIL  SCHtJEEE,  D.D.,  M.A., 

PROFESSOR  OF  THEOLOGY  AT  THE   ÜNlVi:USITV  OF  GIKSöKN, 


Being  a  Second  and  Revised  Edition  of  a  "Manual  of 
the  History  of  JVew  Testament  Times," 


Secoiiö  Diviöton. 

THE   INTERNAL   CONDITION   OF   PALESTINE,    AND   OF   THE 
JEWISH  PEOPLE,  IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS  CHJilST. 


TBANSIATED  BV 

SOPHIA  TAYLOR  AND  REV.  PETER  CHRISTIE. 


VOL.   I. 


NEW    YORK: 

CHARLES    S  C  R  I  IJ  X  E  R '  S     SONS. 

189L 


THE  PORTIONS  OF  THE  TRANSLATORS  RESPECTIVELY  ARE— 


By  Miss  Taylor. 

Vol.    I.  pages  1-149,  and  page  306  to  end. 
Vol.  II.  pages  1-242. 


By  Rev.  Peter  Christie. 


A^ol.    I.  pages  150-305. 
Vol.  II.  page  243  to  end. 


The  Sections  run  ou  from  the  First  Division,  which,  as  explained  in  the 
Preface,  is  in  preparation. 

Volume  III.,  completing  this  Division,  is  in  the  pres«. 


»ratefullg  ©eticatcti 


ALBRECHT    RITSCHL,     D.D. 


CARL  VON  WEIZSÄCKER,  D.D. 


PREFACE. 


It  is  a  reconstruction  of  the  Manual  of  the  History  of  New 
Testament  Times  which  here  appears  under  another  title. 
I  believe  that  this  new  title  expresses  more  plainly  and 
oorrectly  than  the  old  title  the  actual  contents  of  the  book. 
For  in  fact,  whether  in  its  former  or  present  state,  it  does 
not  profess  to  be  more  than  a  History  of  the  Jewish  People 
in  the  Time  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  tlie  exclusion  of  the  state 
of  the  heathen  world.  I  could  not  decide  on  admitting  the 
latter,  because  the  selection  to  be  made  must  have  been  an 
arbitrary  one. 

The  external  framework  of  the  book  has  undergone  biit 
little  alteration  in  this  new  revision.  Most  of  the  paragraphs 
remain  the  same.  The  only  additions  are  the  section  on 
the  Priesthood  and  the  Tempi«  worship  (§  24),  and  the  two 
paragraphs  on  the  Palestino- Jewish  and  the  Graeco- Jewish 
literature  (§32  and  33),  which  replace  the  former  section 
on  the  Apocalypse.  Thus  the  number  of  paragraphs  is  only 
increased  by  two.  Within  this  former  framework,  however, 
the  book  has  certainly  become  almost  a  new  one.  Eenewed 
consultation  of  authorities  and  continued  occupation  with  the 
subject  furnished  so  much  fresh  material,  that  a  considerable 
increase  of  extent  was  unavoidable.  The  matter  of  this 
Second  Division  is  threefold  that  of  the  first  edition,  although 


X  PREFACE. 

I  have  earnestly  striven  not  to  expand  the  form  beyond 
the  limits  then  observed.  It  is  only  in  verbal  citations  from 
documentary  authorities  that  I  have  allowed  myself  somewhat 
more  liberty  than  in  the  former  edition. 

An  apology  is  needed  on  my  part  for  issuing  the  second 
half  of  the  book  before  the  first.  This  inversion  of  the  natural 
order  was  not  at  first  contemplated.  I  merely  began  opera- 
tions on  this  second  half  because  there  was  more  to  be  done 
here  than  in  the  first,  my  purpose  being  to  print  both  parts 
in  one  volume  as  before.  The  work,  however,  so  grew  under 
my  hands  as  to  render  a  division  necessary.  At  the  same 
time,  the  completion  of  the  whole  was  consequently  so 
delayed,  that  it  seemed  desirable  to  publish  what  was  ready 
at  once.  This  was  the  more  possible  because  this  half  also 
forms  a  comparatively  independent  whole.  While  thus 
issuing  this  Second  Division  first,  I  can  at  the  same  time 
express  the  hope,  that  the  First  Division,  which  will  not 
expand  in  the  same  proportion,  may,  with  the  needful  index, 
follow  it  within  the  space  of  one  year. 

E.  SCHÜRER. 
GIESSEN,  Sept.  1885. 


CONTENTS  OF  DIVISION  IL  VOL.  I. 


§  22.  The  State  of  Culture  in  general, 
I.  Mixture  of  Population,  Language, 
II.  Diffusion  of  Hellenic  Culture,  . 

1.  Hellenism  in  the  Non- Jewish  Regions, 

2.  Hellenism  in  the  Jewish  Region,  . 
III.  Position  of  Judaism  with  respect  to  Heathenism, 

§  23.  Constitution.    Sanhedrim.     High  Priest, 
I.  The  Hellenistic  Towns, 

Raphia,  66.  Gaza,  68.  Anthedon,  72.  Ascalon,  7*1 
Azotus,  76.  Jamnia,  78.  Joppa,  79.  ApoUonia,  83 
Straton's  Tower  =  Caesarea,  84.  Dora,  87.  PtolemaiS; 
90.  Damascus,  96.  Hippus,  98.  Gadara,  100.  AbUa. 
104.  Raphana,  106.  Kanata,  106.  Kanatha,  108 
Scythopolis,  110.  Pella,  113.  Dium,  115.  Gerasa, 
116.  Philadelphia,  119.  Sebaste  =  Samaria,  123 
Gaba,  127.  Esbon  (Hesbon),  128.  Antipatris,  130 
Phasaelis,  131.  Caesarea  Panias,  132.  Julias  =  Beth 
saida,  135.  Sepphoris,  136.  Julias  =  Livias,  141 
Tiberias,  143. 
II.  The  strictly  Jewish  Territory,  .... 

III.  The  great  Sanhedrim  at  Jerusalem, . 

History,  165.     Composition,  174.     Jiuisdiction,  184.     Time 
and  Place  of  Sessions,  190.     Judicial  Procedure,  193. 

IV.  The  High  Priests, 

§  24.  The  Priesthood  and  the  Temple  Wousmi-, 
I.  The  Priesthood  as  a  distinct  Order, 
II.  The  Emoluments, 

III.  The  Various  Functions  of  il'.e  Priesthood, 

IV.  The  Daily  Service, 
Appendix.     Participation  of  Gentiles  in  the  Worship  at  Jeru 

salem,  ...... 


PAGE 

1 
1 
11 
11 
29 
51 

57 


149 
163 


195 

207 
207 
230 
254 
273 

299 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


§  25.    SORIBISM,         ..... 

I.  Canonical  Dignity  of  Holy  Scripture, 
II.  The  Scribes  and.  their  Activity  in  general, 
III.  Halachah  and  Haggadah, 

1.  The  Halachah, 

2.  The  Haggadah,      . 

IV.  The  most  famous  Scribes,  » 


PAGE 

306 

306 

312 

329 

330 

.   339 

351 

5  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 
I.    MIXTURE  OF  POrULATIOX.      LANGUAGE. 

THE  Jewish  poimlation  of  Palestine  experienced,  during  the 
Greek  and  Eoman  period,  as  well  as  in  previous  centuries, 
great  fluctuations  both  in  numbers  and  extension.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  Hellenistic  period  to  the  rising  of  the  Mac- 
cabees the  Jewish  element  must  be  regarded  as  gradually 
receding,  the  Greek  as  triumphantly  advancing.  The  rising 
of  the  Maccabees  and  its  consequences  produced  however  an 
important  change,  Judaism  gaining  ground  thereby  both  inten- 
sively and  extensively.  It  was  internally  consolidated  and 
extended  its  boundaries  in  nearly  every  direction :  to  the  west, 
by  the  Judaizing  of  the  towns  of  Gazara,  Joppa  and  Jamnia 
(see  above,  §  7,  and  below,  §  23.  I.);  to  the  south,  by  the 
compulsory  conversion  of  the  Idumaeans  under  John  Hyrcanus 
(see  §  8) ;  to  the  north,  by  the  conversion  of  the  Ituraeans 
under  Aristobulus  I.  (see  §  9) ;  and  in  all  directions  by  the 
conquests  of  Alexander  Jannaeus.  It  is  true  that  the  Judaism 
of  these  Asraonean  princes  from  John  Hyrcanus  onwards  was 
not  that  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees ;  still  they  represented, 
though  in  their  own  fashion,  the  Jewish  religion  and  nationality, 
as  the  example  of  the  "  Hellenistic  Aristobulus "  especially 
proves.  Then,  under  Alexandra  even  the  Pharisaic  tendency 
again  prevailed.  Under  the  Piomans  and  Herodians  indeed 
the  pursuit  of  a  Graeco-Roman  culture  was  again  favoured 
as  nnich  as  possible.  But  Pharisaic  Judaism  was  now  so 
established,  both  externally  and  internally,  by  the  develop- 
ment of  the  last  two  centuries,  that  its  state  of  possession 
could  not  thus  be  essentially  encroached  upon,  and  not  till 

PIV.  ir.  VOL.  I.  A 


2         §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

the  convulsions  of  the  wars  under  Vespasian  and  Hadrian 
did  it  again  incur  great  losses. 

For  the  times  of  Josephus  we  have  somewhat  more  accurate 
information  concerning  the  extension  of  the  Jewish  population 
in  Palestine  in  the  description  he  has  given  of  the  country  in 
his  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.^  From  this  we  learn — what  is  else- 
where confirmed — that  of  all  the  maritime  towns,  two  only, 
viz.  Joppa  and  Jamnia,  which  were  Judaized  in  the  Mac- 
cfiibaean  period,  contained  a  chiefly  Jewish  population.  In  all 
the  other  coast  towns  the  Gentile  was  the  prevailing  element 
(see  also  §  23.  I.).  In  the  interior,  on  the  contrary,  the 
countries  of  Judaea,  Galilee  and  Peraea  had  an  essentially 
Jewish  population.  To  these  were  added  the  regions  lying 
to  the  east  of  the  Sea  of  Gennesareth,  viz.  Gamalitis, 
Gaulonitis,  Batanaea  and  Trachonitis,  which  had  a  mixed 
Jewish  and  heathen  population. 

This  threefold  division  of  the  Jewish  region  into  Judaea, 

Galilee   and  Peraea  (^1^^'!,  ^"'^3,  H^.D  '^^V)   is  also  repeatedly 

^  It  is  evident,  that  Josephus  intends  to  give  in  the  above-mentioned 
passage  {Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  1-5)  a  description  of  the  Jewish  country,  i.e.  of 
those  districts  of  Palestine,  which  were  entirely  or  chiefly  inhabited  by 
Jews.  For  all  Gentile  districts  are  excluded  from  the  description  and  only 
mentioned  to  define  the  boundaries  of  the  Jewish  regions.  He  thus  first 
describes  Galilee,  which  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  region  of  Ptolemais ; 
on  the  east  by  that  of  Hippo?,  Gadara,  etc.  (iii.  3.  1)  ;  then  Peraea,  which 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  region  of  Pella,  on  the  east  by  that  of 
Gerasa,  Philadelphia,  etc.  (iii.  3.  6).  Hereupon  follows  a  description  of 
Samaria  (iii.  S.  4),  and  finally  one  of  Judaea  (iii.  3.  5).  The  latter  extends 
from  the  Jordan  to  Joppa  Cuixp';  'loV^j),  Joppa  being  thus  not  reckoned 
as  a  part  of  Judaea.  The  Hellenistic  coast  towns  are  all  excluded  from 
the  description ;  and  Josephus  only  says  of  the  Jewish  territory  that  it 
was  not  deprived  of  those  enjoyments,  which  come  from  the  sea,  because 
it  extended  to  the  coast  lands  (iii.  3.  ö :  cKpf.oriroii  ol  ovli  t^ju  I«  da.'h.öcaan; 
Tip-TTväv  VI  'Ioy3«/o6,  TO?j  rapsex/o/?  KctTotTsivovjci).  To  the  four  provinces 
mentioned,  Josephus  adds,  by  way  of  supplement :  (1)  the  region  of 
Jamnia  and  Joppa  as  being  the  only  maritime  towns  of  which  the  popula- 
lation  was  chiefly  Jewish  (comp.  §  23.  I.)  ;  and  (2)  the  provinces  of 
Gamalitis,  Gaulonitis,  Batanaea  and  Trachonitis,  in  the  kingdom  of  Agrippa, 
because  the  Jewish  element  here  formed  at  least  a  very  considerable 
fraction.  It  is  of  special  interest  to  observe,  that  in  this  whole  description 
Josephus  includes  Samaria,  thus  evidently  regarding  the  Samaritans  also 
as  Jews,  though  as  heterodox  Jews. 


§  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUIIE  IN  GENERAL.  3 

assumed  in  the  Mislnia."  Tlie  central  country  and  nucleus 
of  the  whole  was  Judaea,  which  was  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Samaria,  on  the  east  by  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea,  on  the 
west  by  the  district  of  the  Philistine-Hellenistic  cities,  on  the 
south  by  Arabia  Petraea.  In  Judaea  was  the  centre  of  Jewish 
life;  it  was  here  that  the  new  community  had  first  reorganized 
itself  after  the  Babylonian  captivity,  here  that  the  rising  of  the 
Maccabees  originated,  and  here  that  the  learned  and  educa- 
tional  activity  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  had  its  chief  seat. 
In  the  north,  and  separated  from  Judaea  by  Samaria,  was 
Galilee,  whose  boundaries  were  to  the  north  the  district  of 
Tyre ;  to  the  west,  that  of  Ptolemais ;  to  the  east,  Jordan  and 
tlie  Lake  of  Gennesareth.  The  population  of  Galilee  also  was 
mainly  Jewish ;  for  the  inhabitants  of  this  district  had  not 
joined  the  Samaritan  schism,  as  might  have  been  expected 
from  the  former  common  history  of  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim, 
On  the  contrary,  the  tendency  adopted  by  Judaism  in  the 
post-exilian  period  had  been — we  no  longer  know  how  or  when, 
but  certainly  during  the  Persian  period — successfully  brought 
to  bear  in  this  district  also,  and  an  enduring  religious  associa- 
tion thus  established  between  the  inhabitants  of  Judaea  and 
Galilee.  Peraea,  the  third  of  the  Jewish  lands,  lay  beyond 
the  river  Jordan,  and  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
district  of  Pella,  on  the  east  by  the  districts  of  Gerasa, 
Philadelphia,  and  Heshbon,  and  on  the  south  by  the  kingdom 
of  Arabia  Petraea.  In  this  province  also  the  population  was 
an  essentially  Jewish  one.^  Still,  neither  in  Galilee  nor 
Peraea  must  we  conceive  of  the  Jewish  element  as  pure  and 
unmixed.  In  the  shifting  course  of  history  Jews  and  Gentiles 
had  here  been  so  often,  and  in  such  a  variety  of  ways,  throw)i 

*  Shebiith  ix.  2 ;  Ketliuhoth  xiii.  10 ;  Buha  hallira  iii.  2. 

*  Comp.  e.(j.  Antt.  xx.  1.  1  (the  dispute  of  the  Jews  with  the  Phila- 
delphians  concerning  boundaries);  Bell.  Jiul.  iv.  7.  4-6  (the  share  of  the 
Jews  of  Peiaeii  iu  the  revolt).  The  Mishna  too  always  assumes,  that 
Peraea    (p~i>n  "l3y)   is   a  land  inhabited   by  Jews ;    see   Shebiith  ix.  2 ; 

Bikkurim  i.  10;  Taanith  iii.  G;  Ktihnb'ith  xiii.  10;  Baba  bathni  iii.  2; 
Ediijolh  via.  7  ;  Mcnachoth  viii.  3. 


4         §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CÜLTUEE  IN  GENERAL. 

together,  that  the  attainment  of  exclusive  predominance  by 
the  Jewish  element  must  be  counted  among  the  impossibilities. 
It  was  only  in  Judaea,  that  this  was  at  least  approximately 
arrived  at  by  the  energetic  agency  of  the  scribes  during  the 
course  of  a  century. 

In  spite  of  the  common  religion  and  nationality  of  the  three 
provinces,  many  differences  of  manners  and  customs  existed 
between  their  inhabitants,  and  these  imparted  a  certain 
independence  to  their  inner  life,  quite  apart  from  the  political 
separation  repeatedly  appearing.  The  Mislina  mentions,  e.g., 
slight  differences  in  respect  of  the  marriage  laws  between 
Judaea  and  Galilee,*  varying  customs  in  the  intercourse 
between  espoused  persons,^  differences  of  weights  and  coinage 
between  Judaea  and  Galilee.®  The  three  provinces  are  there- 
fore looked  upon  as  in  certain  respects  "  different  countries."^ 

The  districts  east  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth  (Gamalitis, 
Gaulonitis,  Batanaea  and  Trachonitis)  formed  a  somev.-hat 
motley  assemblage.  The  population  was  a  mixed  one  of  Jews 
and  Syrians  {Bell.  Jud.  iii.  5:  oiKovai  he  avrrjv  uiydBe'i  'lovBaloL 
T€  Kol  Hvpot).  But  besides  the  settled  population,  numerous 
nomadic  hosts,  from  whom  the  former  had  much  to  suffer, 
were  wandering  about  in  these  border  lands  of  civilisation. 
Very  favourable  to  them  were  the  caves  of  this  district,  in 
which  they  could  lay  up  stores  of  water  and  provisions,  and 
in  case  of  attack  find  refuge,  together  with  their  flocks  and 
herds.  Hence  it  was  very  difficult  to  subdue  them.  The 
powerful  hand  of  Herod  however  succeeded  in  inducing  among 
them  a  certain  amount  of  order.  ^  With  the  view  of  keeping 
these  turbulent  elements  permanently  in  check,  he  frequently 
settled  foreign  colonists  in  Trachonitis ;  at  first,  three  thousand 
Idumaeans  f  then  a  colony  of  warlike  Jews  from  Babylon,  to 

*  Kethuhoth  iv.  12.  ^  Jebamoth  iv.  10 ;  Kcthuhoth  i.  5 

^  Teriimoth  x.  8 ;  Ketlmhoth  v.  9  ;   Cladhn  xi.  2. 

"  E.g.  ill  respect  of  the  fundamental  principle,  that  the  wife  is  not  bound 
to  accompany  her  husband  to  another  country  {Kethuhoth  xiii.  10),  in 
respect  of  the  law  of  usucaption  {Baha  hathra  iii.  2). 

8  Ä7itt.  XV.  10.  1.  »  Avtt.  xvi.  9.  2. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL.         5 

whom  he  granted  the  privilege  of  immunity  from  taxation.^^ 
His  sons  and  grandson  continued  this  work.  Nevertheless 
one  of  the  two  Agrippas  had  to  complain  in  an  edict  of  the 
brutish  manner  of  life  {dr^piwZr)^  KaTda-raad)  of  the  inhabitants 
and  of  their  abode  in  the  caves.  ^^  Herod's  exertions  for  the 
promotion  of  culture  at  last  introduced  the  Greek  element 
into  these  countries.  In  tlie  neighbourhood  of  Kanatha  (see 
§  23.  I.)  are  still  found  the  ruins  of  a  temple,  which  according 
to  its  Greek  inscriptions  belongs  to  the  period  of  Herod  the 
Great. ^^  Greek  inscriptions  of  the  two  Agrippas,  especially  of 
Agrippa  II.,  are  found  in  larger  numbers  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Hauran,  '^  In  the  Roman  period  the  Greek  element  pre- 
dominated, at  least  externally,  in  these  districts  (see  hereon 
Nr.  ii.  1). 

The  Samaritans   also   belonged  in   a    wider    sense    to   the 
Jewish  population,^*      For  their  character  is  not  rightly  viewed 

">  Ahlt.  xvii.  2.  1-3.     On  the  history  of  this  colony,  comp,  also  Vila,  11. 

*'  The  unfortunately  very  scanty  fragments  of  this  edict  are  given  in 
Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  Inscriptions  Grecques  et  Latines.  vol.  iii.  n.  2329. 
Thence  also  in  the  Zeitschrift  für  ivissenschaftl.  Theol.  1873,  p,  252. 

12  Comp,  especially  the  inscriptions  in  Le  Bas  and  Waddington,  vol.  iii, 
n.  2364. 

13  I,e  Bas  and  Waddington,  vol.  iii.  n.  2112,  2135,  2211,  2329,  2365, 
2418^.  Thence  also  in  the  Zeitschrift  für  icixsenschaftl  Theol.  1873, 
p,  248  sqq. 

1*  Kautzsch  gives  in  Herzog's  Real-EncijcL,  2nd  ed.  xiii.  351-355,  the 
most  complete  catalogue  of  tlie  copious  literature  on  the  Samaritans. 
Comp,  especially  :  Ccllarius,  Collectanea  historiae  Samai-itanae,  1688  (also  in 
Ugolini,  Thcs.  t.  xxii.) ;  Robinson's  Palestine,  iii.  130,  131;  Juynboll, 
Commentarii  in  historiam  gentis  Samaritauae,  Lugd.  Bat.  1846 ;  Winer, 
RWB.  ii.  369-373;  Lutterbcck,  Die  neutcstamcntlichen  Lehrbegriffe, 
i.  255-269 ;  Herzfeld,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Israel,  iii.  580  sqq. ;  Jost,  Gesch. 
des  Judcnthnms,  i.  44-89  ;  Petermann  in  Herzog's  Real-Encijcl,  1st  ed. 
xiii.  359-39 1.  Hausrath,  Zeitgesch.,  2nd  cd.  i.  12-23 ;  Schrader  in  Schenkel's 
Bibtllexiccn,  v.  149-154 ;  Appel,  Quaestiones  de  rebus  Samaritanorum  siib 
imperio  Romanorum  peractis,  Getting.  1874  ;  Nutt,  A  Sketch  nf  Samaritan 
History,  Dogma,  and  Literature,  London  1874;  Kohn,  "Zur  Sprache," 
"Literatur  und  Dogmatik  des  Samaritaner"  (articles  in  the  Kunde  des 
Morgenlandes,  vol.  v.  No.  iv.  1876) ;  Kautzscli  in  Richm's  Handwörter- 
buch des  bibl.  Altertums,  sub  voce;  Recess,  Gesch.  der  heil.  Schriften 
Alten  Testaments,  §  381,  382;  Hamburg.r,  Real- Encijclopädie  für  Bibel  und 
Talmud,  div.  ii.  1883,  pp.  1062-1U71  ;  Kautzscli  in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL, 


6         §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

till  it  is  regarded  from  the  twofold  point  of  sight — (1)  of  their 
being  indeed,  according  to  their  natural  composition,  a  mixed 
people  arising  from  the  intermingling  of  the  former  Israelitish 
population  with  Gentile  elements,  especially  with  the  heathen 
colonists  introduced  by  the  Assyrians;  and  (2)  of  their  having 
a  religion  essentially  identical  with  that  of  Israel  at  an  earlier 
stage  of  development.  Among  the  colonists,  whom  the 
Assyrians  had  planted  (2  Kings  xvii,  24  sqq.)  in  Samaria  from 
the  provinces  of  Babylon,  Cuthah,  Ava,Hamath  and  Sepharvaim, 
those  from  Cuthah  ('1^3,  ni3,  2  Kings  xvii.  24,  30)  seem  to 
have  been  particularly  numerous.  The  inhabitants  of  Samaria 
were  hence  subsequently  called  Cuthites  by  the  Jews  (Xovdaloi 
in  Joseph.  Antt.  ix.  14.  3,  xi.  4.  4,  7.  2,  xiil  9.  1;  in  Eabbinic 
literature  D''n^3^'*^).  We  must  not,  however,  confidently  assume, 
that  the  ancient  Israelitish  population  was  entirely  carried 
away,  and  the  whole  country  peopled  afresh  by  these  heathen 
colonists.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  certain,  that  a  considerable 
percentage  of  the  ancient  population  remained,  and  that  the 
new  population  consisted  of  a  mixture  of  these  with  the 
heathen  immigrants.  The  religion  of  this  mingled  people  was, 
according  to  the  Bible  (2  Kings  xvii.  24—41),  at  first  a  mixed 
religion, — a  combination  of  the  heathen  rites  introduced  by 
the  colonists  with  the  old  Israelite  worship  of  Jidiveh  upon 
the  high  places.  Gradually  however  the  Israelitish  religion 
must  have  obtained  a  decided  preponderance.  For,  from  what 
we  know  with  certainty  of  the  religion  of  the  Samaritans  (of 
course  leaving  malicioiis  reports  out  of  question),  it  was  a  pure 
Israelitish  monotheism.  They  acknowledged  the  unity  of  God 
and  the  authority  of  Moses  as  the  greatest  of  the  prophets;  they 

2nd  ed.  xiii.  340-355.  Various  contributions  to  the  Samaritan  literature  by 
Heidenheim  in  the  deutschen  Vicrteljalirssclirift  für  engl.-tlieol.  Furschung 
und  Kritik,  1861  sqq. 

■•■**  D^ri13  in  the  Mishna  in  the  following  places :  Berachoih  vii.  1,  viii.  8 ; 

Pea  ii.  7  ;  Demai  iii.  4,  v.  9,  vi.  1,  vii.  4 ;  Ternmnth  iii.  9  ;  Clialla  iv.  7  ; 
Shekalim  i.  5 ;  Rosh  hashana  ii.  2 ;  Ketliuhoth  iii.  1  ;  Ncdarim  iii.  10 ; 
Gittin  i.  5 ;  Kiddushin  iv.  3  ;  OJialoth  xvii.  3  ;  2'ohoroth  v.  8 ;  Nidda  iv 
1,  2,  vii.  3,  4,  5. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GEXEKAL.         7 

observed  the  Jewish  rite  of  circumcision  on  the  eighth  day,  the 
sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  Jewish  annual  festivals. 
Xay,  they  even  relinquished  tlie  i^re-Deuteronomic  standpoint 
of  the  worship  of  Jahveh  upon  high  places,  accepted  the  whole 
Pentateuch  as  tlie  law  of  Israel,  and  consequently  acknow- 
ledged the  unity  of  the  Jewisli  worship.  It  is  only  in  the 
circumstance  of  their  transferring  this  worship  not  to  Jeru- 
salem but  to  Gerizim  that  we  perceive  the  after  effect  of  the 
older  standpoint.  Here,  according  to  the  somewhat  suspicious 
account  of  Josephus,  tliey  built  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great^'^  a  temple  of  their  own  ;  and  even  after  its  destruction 
by  John  Hyrcanus,  Gerizim  continued  to  be  their  sacred 
mountain  and  the  seat  of  their  worship.  ^^  They  did  not 
indeed  participate  in  the  further  development  of  Pharisaic 
Judaism,  but  rejected  all  that  went  beyond  the  injunctions  of 
the  Pentateuch.  ISTor  did  they  accept  any  of  the  sacred  w^ritings 
of  the  Jewish  canon  except  the  l*entateuch.  But  for  all  this 
the  right  to  call  themselves  "Israelites"  cannot  be  denied  them, 
so  far,  that  is,  as  religion  and  not  descent  is  in  question. 

The  position  of  Judaism  proper  with  regard  to  the  Samari- 
tans was  always  a  hostile  one :  tlie  ancient  antagonism  of 
the  kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah  was  here  carried  on  in  a 
new  form.  When  the  Samaritans  desired,  in  the  time  of 
Zerubbabel,  to  co-operate  in  the  building  of  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  they  w^ere  rejected  by  the  Jews  (Ezra  iv.  1) ;  and 
"the  foolish  people  who  dwell  in  Sichern"  are  as  much  hated 
by  the  Son  of  Sirach  as  the  Edomites  and  Philistines  (Ecclus. 
1.  25,  26).  The  Samaritans  on  their  side  requited  this  dis- 
position with  like  hostility.^'      The  legal  appointments,  never- 

^5  Josephus,  Antt.  xi.  7.  2 ;  8.  2  sqq.  The  history  of  Sanballat  and  his 
son-in-law,  with  whicli  Joseplius  connects  the  building  of  the  temple  on 
Gerizim,  happened  according  to  Nehemiah"s  account  in  his  own  days 
(Neh.  xiii.  28),  about  one  hundred  years  before  Alexander  the  Great. 

1'^  Destruction  by  John  Hyrcanus,  Aiilt.  xiii.  9.  1.  Continuance  of  venera- 
tion for  it:  John  iv.  20;  Joseph,  yiutt.  xviii.  4.  1 ;  Bell.  Jitd.  iii.  7.  32. 

^'  Neh.  iv.  1  sqq.;  Luke  ix.  52,  53;  Joseph.  Aiitl.  xviii.  2.  2,  xx.  6.  1  ; 
Bell.  JikI.  ii.  12.  3  ;  RosK  hashana  ii.  2. 


8         §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  GENEEAL. 

theless,  of  Eabbinic  Judaism  with  respect  to  the  Samaritans, 
are,  from  the  standpoint  of  Pharisaism,  generally  correct  and 
just/^  The  Samaritans  are  never  absolutely  treated  as 
"  foreigners,"  but  as  a  mingled  people,  whose  Israelitish  descent 
was  not  indeed  proved,  but  always  to  be  regarded  as  possible.^® 
Hence  their  membership  of  "  the  congregation  of  Israel "  is 
not  denied,  but  only  designated  as  doubtful.^^  Their  observ- 
ance of  the  law,  e.g.  with  regard  to  tithes  and  the  Levitical 
laws  of  purification,  did  not  indeed  correspond  with  Pharisaic 
rec[uirements,  on  which  account  they  were  in  many  respects 
placed  on  a  level  with  Gentiles.^^  They  were  never  however 
treated  as  idolaters  (nV'^y),  but,  on  the  contrary,  decidedly 
distinguished  from  them.^^  Their  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
is  occasionally  mentioned,-^  and  it  is  assumed  as  at  least 
possible,  that  they  could  say  a  genuine  Israelitish  grace  at 
meals.'-*  In  fact  they  stand,  so  far  as  their  observance  of  the 
law  is  concerned,  on  the  same  level  as  the  Sadducees."^ 

The  language  of  the  Jewish  population  of  all  the  districts 

^^  A  collection  of  Rabbiuical  definitions  is  given  in  the  treatise  DTl^D, 
in  the  seven  small  treatises  published  by  Rapliael  Kirchheini  (see  above, 
§  3)  ;  the  passages  of  the  Mishna  (see  above,  note  14a) ;  cor.ip.  also  Light- 
foot,  Centuria  Matthaeo  praemissa,  c.  56  {0pp.  ii.  212) ;  Hamburger,  as 
before  quoted. 

^*  Compare,  on  the  one  hand,  Shekalim  i.  5  (obligatory  sacrifices  for  the 
temple  are  to  be  received  only  from  Israelites,  not  from  Gentiles  nor  even 
from  Samaritans)  ;  on  the  other,  Berachoth  vii.  1  (when  three  Israelites 
have  eaten  together,  they  are  bound  to  prepare  themselves  formally  for 
prayer ;  this  also  holds  good  if  one  of  the  three  is  a  Samaritan)  ;  Ktthuhoth 
iii.  1  (the  claim  for  a  money  compensation  on  account  of  cohabitation  with 
an  Israelitish  virgin  holds  good  in  respect  of  a  Samaritan  virgin). 

20  Kidduslibi  iv.  3. 

21  Comp,  in  general,  Demai  vii.  4  ;  Tohoroth  v.  8  ;  Nidda  iv.  1,  2,  vii.  3-5. 

22  Berachoth  vii.  1 ;  Demai  iii.  4,  v.  9,  vi.  1 ;  Terumoth  iii.  9.  The  asser- 
tion, that  the  Samaritans  worshipped  the  image  of  a  dove,  is  a  slander  first 
appearing  in  the  Talmud  (./tr.  Aboda  sara  v.  fol.  44^;  Bah.  Chullui  C*;  see 
Levy,  Neidiehr.  Wörterbuch,  s.v.  |V),  and  one,  of  which  the  Mishna  as  yet 
knows  nothing. 

23  Nedarim  iii.  10.  24  Berachoth  viii.  8. 

2^  Comp.  Nidda  iv.  2  :  "  The  Saddiicees,  when  they  follow  the  customs  of 
their  fathers,  are  equal  to  the  Samaritans."  Epiphanius  says  of  the 
Sadducees,  Hacr.  14 :   tcc  TtxiiT»  oi  tax  '^ocfimpHTcti;  ((v'hxTTOviJtv, 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  GENEKAL.         9 

here  nientioiiecl  was,  since  the  last  centuries  before  Christ, 
no  longer  Hebrew,  but  Aramaic.^®  How  and  when  the 
change  was  effected,  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  At  any 
rate,  it  was  not  the  exiles,  who  returned  from  Babylon,  who 
brought  the  Aramaic  thence,  for  tlie  post-exilian  literature  of 
the  Israelites  is  also  chiefly  Hebrew.  Nor  was  the  Aramaic 
dialect  of  Palestine  the  Eastern  (Babylonian),  but  the 
Western  Aramaic.  Hence  it  must  have  penetrated  gradually 
to  Palestine  from  the  north.  The  period  of  tlie  transition  is 
marked  by  the  canonical  books  of  Ezra  and  Daniel  (the  latter 
about  167—165  b.c.),  which  are  written  partly  in  Hebrew, 
partly  in  Aramaic  (Aramaic  are  Ezra  iv.  8-6,  18,  vii.  12-26  ; 
Dan.  ii.  4-7,  28).  A  saying  of  Joses  ben  Joeser,  about 
the  middle  of  the  second  century  before  Christ,  is  cited  in 
Aramaic  in  the  JNIishna,"'*^  also  certain  sayings  of  Hillel  and 
other  authorities."'^  That  Aramaic  was  in  the  time  of  Christ 
the  sole  popular  language  of  Palestine,  is  evident  from  the 
words  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament :  äßßa  (Mark  xiv.  36), 
a.KeXSafid'^  (Acts  i.  19),  yaßßadä  (John  xix.  13),  yoXyoOa 
(Matt,  xxvii.  33),  i(f)(pa6d  (Mark  vii.  34),  Kopßavä^  (]\Iatt. 
xxvii.  6),  /xa/jt.ü)vä<;  (i\Iat.t.  vi.  24),  fxapav  aOa  (1  Cor.  xvi.  22), 
M€<Taia<s  =  i^r]'<Z'p  (John  i.  41),  Trda'^a  (Matt.  xxvi.  17),  puKu 
(Matt.  V.  22),  aaTuvu'i  (Matt.  xvi.  23),  rakiOa  kov/jll  (]\lark 
v.  41)  ;  to  which  may  be  added  names  of  persons,  such  as 
Kr](f)ä<i,  Mdp9a,  TaßcOd^-'  and  the  numerous  names  compounded 
with  "13  (Barabbas,  Bartholomew,  Barjesus,  Barjonas,  Barnaljas, 
Barsabas,  Bartimteus).     The  \vords,  too,  of  Christ  upon  the 

28  Comp.  Zung,  Die  gottcsfJienstlichen  Vorträcje  der  Juden  (1832),  p.  7  sq. ; 
Heizfeld,  Gesch.  d.  Volkes  Israel,  iii.  44  sqq.,  58  sqq.  ;  Bohl,  Forsclntiigen 
nach  einer,  Volkshibel  zur  Zeit  Jesu  (1873),  pp.  4-28;  Delitzscli,  U eher  die 
palästinische  Volkssprache,  ivelche  Jesu  und  seine  Jünger  geredel  haben 
(''Saat  auf  Hoffnung''),  1874.  pp.  195-210;  Rouss,  Gesch.  der  heil. 
Schriften  Neuen  Testaments,  §  40 ;  tlie  same,  Gesch.  der  heil.  Schrif'ten 
Alten  Testaments,  §  416,  417;  Kaiitzsch,  Grammar  of  Bildical  Aramaic 
(1884),  pp.  4-12. 

^''  Ednjoth  viii.  4. 

28  Hillel,  Aboih  i.  13,  ii.  G ;  others,  Aboth  v.  22,  23. 

23  The  accentuation  in  our  editions  is  very  inconsistent.  Consistent 
accentuation  would  require  pxKx,  roLtAÜ,  Tecjitdx. 


10  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  CENERAL. 

cross:  'JEXcot  iXcol'  \a/j,a  aaßa^Oavel  (Mark  xv.  34),  are 
Aramaic.  Hebrew  was  so  little  current  with  the  common  people, 
that  the  lessons  from  the  Bible  read  in  public  worship  had  to 
be  translated  verse  by  verse  into  tlie  dialect  of  the  country.^ 
Notwithstanding  however  this  complete  prevalence  of 
Aramaic,  Hebrew  still  remained  in  use  as  "  the  sacred 
language  "  (ti'lPO  |it^?).  It  was  read  aloud  in  the  synagogues  of 
Palestine  both  before  and  after  the  Ploly  Scriptures ;  and  in 
certain  liturgical  cases  the  use  of  Hebrew  was  absolutely 
required.^^  Hebrew  also  continued  to  be  the  language  of  the 
learned,  in  which  even  the  legal  discussions  of  the  scribes 
were  carried  on.  Not  until  about  the  third  century  after 
Christ  do  we  find  Aramaic  in  use  for  the  last-named  purpose ; 
and  while  the  Mishna  was  still  in  Hebrew  (second  century), 
the  Palestinian  Talmud  was  (fourth  century)  in  Aramaic. 
The  latter  is  our  most  copious  source  for  the  knowledge  of 
this  language  of  Palestine.  Some  hints  concerning  dialectic 
differences  of  pronunciation  between  Judaea  and  Galilee  are 
given  in  the  Gospels  and  the  Talmud.'^* 

»0  Megllki  iv.  4,  6,  10.     Comp,  below,  §  27. 

ä'  Jebamoth  xii.  6  ;  Sota  vii.  2-4,  viii.  1,  ix.  1 ;  Megilla  i.  8.  See  especially 
Sota  vii.  2  :  "  The  following  portions  are  delivered  in  the  sacred  language 
alone:  the  section  of  Scripture  at  the  offering  of  the  first-fruits,  the 
formula  at  the  Chaliza,  the  blessings  and  curses,  the  blessing  of  the  priest, 
the  form  of  blessing  of  the  high  priest,  the  portion  read  by  the  king  (at 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  in  the  Sabbatic  year),  the  formula  at  the  killing 
of  a  calf  (on  account  of  one  found  dead),  and  the  speech  of  one  anointed 
for  war  when  addressing  the  army."  On  the  other  hand,  e.g.  the  Shma, 
the  Shmone-Esre  (see  on  this,  §  27,  Appendix),  grace  at  meals,  etc.,  might 
be  said  in  any  language  (Sota  vii.  1).  All  this  applies  to  oral  delivery. 
In  writing,  the  use  of  Hebrew  was  required  for  the  text  of  the  TefilUn 
and  Mcsiisoth ;  for  all  besides,  even  for  the  Scriptures,  any  language  was 
allowed,  according,  however,  to  Eabban  Gamaliel,  only  Greek  beside 
Hebrew  for  the  latter  {Megilla  i.  8).  The  formula  for  the  writing  of 
divorcement  was  usually,  according  to  U.  Juda,  Aramaic  (Giltla  ix.  3),  but 
miglit  also  be  Greek  (Gittin  ix.  8). 

ä-  Matt.  xxvi.  20,  73,  and  its  interpreters — Buxtorf,  Lex.  s.v.  7pj,  col.  434 
sqq.;  Lightfoot,  Centnria  clwrograph.  Mutthaco  j>raeinissa,  c.  S7  (0pp.  Ü. 
232  .«q.)  ;  Mor'miis,  Exercitationes  biblicae  (1G99),  ii.  18.  2,  p.  514  sqq. ; 
Aug.  Pfeiffer,  Decas  selecta  exercitationum  sacrarum,  pp.  206-216  (in  the 
Appendix  to  his  D.uhia  vcxata  script,  sacrae,  Leipsic  and  Frankfort  1685); 


§  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL.  11 

IL  DIFFUSION  OF  HELLENIC  CULTURE, 

1.  Hdlenism  in  the  Non-Jeivisli  Bcgions. 

The  Jewish  region  just  described  was,  in  ancient  times  as 
well  as  in  the  Graeco-Eoman  period,  surrounded  on  all  sides 
by  heathen  districts.  Only  at  Jamnia  and  Joppa  had  the 
Jewish  element  advanced  as  far  as  the  sea.  Elsewhere,  even 
to  the  west,  it  was  not  the  sea,  but  the  Gentile  region  of  the 
Philistine  and  Phenician  cities,  that  formed  the  boundary  of 
the  Jewish.  These  heathen  lands  were  far  more  deeply  pene- 
trated by  Hellenism,  than  the  country  of  the  Jews.  No 
reaction  like  the  rising  of  the  Maccabees  had  here  put  a  stop  to 
it,  besides  which  heathen  polytheism  was  adapted  in  quite  a 
different  manner  from  Judaism  for  blending  with  Hellenism. 
While  therefore  the  further  advance  of  Hellenism  was  obstructed 
by  religious  barriers  in  the  interior  of  Palestine,  it  had  attained 
here,  as  in  all  other  districts  since  its  triumphant  entry  under 
Alexander  the  Great,  its  natural  preponderance  over  Oriental 
culture.  Hence,  long  before  the  commencement  of  the  Eoman 
period,  the  educated  world,  especially  in  the  great  cities  in  the 
west  and  east  of  Palestine,  was,  we  may  well  say,  completely 
Hellenized.  It  is  only  with  the  lower  strata  of  the  popula- 
tions and  the  dw^ellers  in  rural  districts,  that  this  must  not  be 
equally  assumed.  Besides  however  the  border  lands,  the 
Jewish  districts  in  the  interior  of  Palestine  were  occupied  by 
Hellenism,  especially  Scythopolis  (see  §  2o.  I.  Nr.  19)  and 
the  town  of  Samaria,  where  Macedonian  colonists  had  already 
been  planted  by  Alexander  the  Great  (§  23.  I.  Nr.  24),  while 
the  national  Samaritans  had  their  central  point  at  Sichem. 

The  victorious  penetration  of  Hellenistic  culture   is   most 

plainly  and  comprehensively  shown  by  the  religious  worship. 

The  native  religions,  especially  in  the  Philistine  and  Phenician 

cities,   did  indeed  in  many  respects  maintain   themselves  in 

AVctstein,  Nov.  Test,  on  ^[att.  xxvi.  7^) ;  Neubauer,  O'eotjrnjthic  (hi  Talmud, 
p.  184  sq.  Further,  older  literature  in  Wolf,  Curac  phil.  in  Xoc.  Test,  on 
Matt.  xxvi.  73. 


12        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUr.E  IX  GENERAL. 

their  essential  character ;  but  still  in  such  wise,  that  they 
were  transformed  by  and  blended  with  Greek  elements.  But 
besides  these  the  purely  Greek  worship  also  gained  an  entrance, 
and  in  many  places  entirely  supplanted  the  I'ormer.  Unfor- 
tunately our  soui'ces  of  information  do  not  furnish  us  the 
means  of  separating  the  Greek  period  proper  from  the  Roman, 
the  best  are  afforded  by  coins,  and  these  for  the  most  part 
belong  to  the  Roman.  On  the  whole  however  the  picture, 
which  we  obtain,  holds  good  for  the  pre-Roman  period  also, 
nor  are  we  entirely  without  direct  notices  of  this  age. 

On  the  coins  of  Raphia  of  the  times  of  the  empire  are  seen 
especially  Apollo  and  Artemis  according  to  the  purely  Greek 
conception  ;  ^^  upon  those  of  Anthedon,  on  the  contrary,  the 
tutelary  goddess  of  the  city  is  conceived  of  as  Asiarte?^ 

Of  the  worship  at  Gaza  in  the  times  of  the  Roman  Empire 
complete  information  is  given  in  the  life  of  Porphyry,  Bishop 
of  Gaza,  by  Marcus  Diaconus.  According  to  this,  there  wera 
in  Gaza  in  the  time  of  Porphyry  (the  end  of  the  fourth 
century  after  Christ)  eight  Brj/xocrioc  vaol,  viz.  of  Helios, 
Aphrodite,  Apollo,  Persephone  (Kore),  Hecate,  Hereon,  a 
temple  of  Tyche,  and  one  of  Marnas.^  Prom  this  it  appears 
that  the  purely  Greek  worship  was  the  prevailing  one,  and 
this  is  confirmed  in  general  by  the  coins,  upon  whicli  other 
than  Grecian  deities  also  appear.^''     A  temple  of   Apollo  in 

33  Mionnet,  Description  de  medailles  antiques,  v.  551  sq. ;  Supplement,  viii. 
376  sq.  De  Saulcy,  Numismatique  de  la  Terre  Sainte  (1874),  pp.  237-240, 
pi.  xii.  n.  7-9.     Stark,  Gaza,  p.  584. 

3*  Mionnet,  v.  522  sqq.;  Siq^pl.  viii.  364.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  234-236,  pi. 
xii.  n.  2-4.     Stark,  p.  594. 

35  Marci  Diaconi  Vita  Porphyrii  episcopi  Gazensis,  ed.  Haupt  (Essays  of 
the  Berlin  Academy,  formerly  known  only  in  the  Latin  translation),  c.  04  : 
^(fxv    hi    iv    TV)    "Kohti    vecol    iiö6)'Kuu    OYjfiöaiot    6ktu,  toD    n     HT^iov   x.xl    t^s 

A^pdhh-fi;  Kctl  rou  ' KvoKhoivo;  kui  t^j  ^öpim  kxI  tvh  Hkxty;;  k»i  to 
7\i'/6f^ivov  'Hpuov  KOil  TO  T^j  Tvx^S  TJjf  ■Kohiw;,  0  ix.öt.'hwv  Tvx<^7ou,  xxl  to 
Mupviiov,  S  i'Aiyov  iivxt  TOu  KpYirxysuov;  A/oji  <>  ivif^i^'iv  üvxt  ivdo^önpoi» 
"TcäuTuv  Tuu  iipcJv  TO)u  XT,  uvT x'^'iv .  Thc  Mameion  is  also  mentioned  in  many 
other  passages  of  this  Avork. 

36  Eckhel,  Doctr.  Num.  iii.  448  sqq.  Mionnet,  v.  533-549;  Siippl.  viii. 
371-375.     De  Saulcy,  pp.  209-233,  pi  xi.     Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  583-5S9. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUUE  IX  GENERAL.        13 

Gaza  is  already  mentioned  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the 
city  by  Alexander  Jannaeus  {Antf.  xiii.  13.  3).  In  the  Eoman 
period  only  the  chief  deity  of  tlie  city,  Mamas,  was,  as  his 
name  (id  =  Lord)  implies,  originally  a  Shemitic  deity,  who  was 
however  more  or  less  disguised  in  a  Greek  garment.''^ 

A  mixture  of  native  and  Greek  worship  is  also  found  at 
Ascalon,  A  chief  worship  here  was  tliat  of  'A(J)po8ltt] 
oupaviT],  i.e.  of  Astarte  as  Queen  of  Heaven,  She  is  mentioned 
even  by  Herodotus  as  the  deity  of  Ascalon,  and  is  still 
represented  on  coins  of  the  imperial  epoch  chieliy  as  the 
tutelary  goddess  of  the  town.''"^  With  her  is  connected, 
nay  probably  at  first  identical,  the  Atargatis  or  Derceto, 
which  was  worshipped  at  Ascalon  under  a  peculiar  form 
(that  of  a  woman  with  a  fish's  tail).  Her  Semitic  name 
(nnyiny,  compounded  of  iny  =  Astarte,  and  nnj?)  already 
points  out  that  she  is  "  merely  the  Syrian  form  of  Astarte 
blended  with  another  deity  "  (Baudissin).  From  this  fish- 
form  it  is  evident,  that  "the  fertilizing  power  of  water" 
was    especially    honoured    in    her,^^       Asclepius    Xeovrovxo^ 

'^  Comp,  on  Marnas  besides  tlie  passages  in  Marcus  Diaconus,  Steph.  Byz. 
s.v.  Toc^»'  ivdsu  Kxl  TO  Toil  KpyjTUirjv  Aio;  Toto  »vroi;  stveci,  ou  x.»i  k,«.&' 
hl^»:  ty-x'hoiiv  Mtupvoii/,  ep/n-^vivo/ziuou  Kpnrw/it/TJ.  Eckhel,  Dactr.  N^inn.  in. 
450  sq.  Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  ^uG-fM).  Tlie  oldest  express  testimony  to  the 
cult  of  Maroas  are  coins  of  Hadrian  with  the  superscription  Mxpi/x ;  see 
Mionnet,  v.  5o9.  üe  gaulcy,  pp.  216-218,  pi.  xi.  n.  4.  His  cult  is  also 
met  with  beyond  Gaza.  Comp,  the  in.scription  of  Kanata  in  Le  Bas  and 
Waddington,  Inscriptimis,  vol.  iii.  n.  24128  (Wetstein,  n.  183)  :  Au  Mxpux 
TU  Kvptu.  With  the  worship  of  Marnas  as  Zii/g  KpnTxysu*;;  is  also  con- 
nected the  later  Greek  legend,  that  Gaza  was  also  called  Mtviix,  after  Minos 
(Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Vü^»  and  x.v.  'Mi'vuci).     Comp.  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  580  sq. 

'"*  Herodotus,  i.  1U5.  The  coins  in  Mionnet,  v.  523-533;  Siippl  viii. 
865-370.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  178-208,  pi.  ix.  and  x.,  and  comp.  Stark, 
pp.  258  sq.,  590  sq.  Th.;  identity  of  the  Grecian  Aphrodite  with  Astarte 
is  universally  acknowledged.  Perhaps  even  the  names  are  identical ; 
Aphtoreth  and  thence  Aphroteth  might,  as  Hommel  conjectures,  have 
arisen  from  Ashtoreth  (Fleckeisen's  Juhrhuchcr  für  class.  PhUoUujic,  1882, 
p.  170). 

^'•'  On  the  wor.ship  of  Derceto  in  Ascalon,  see  especially  Strabo,  xvi. 
p.  785;  Plinius,  Hist.  Nat.  v.  23.  81 ;  Lucian,  De  Syria  dca,  c.  14;  Ovid, 
Mctam.  iv.  44-46.  The  Semitic  name  upon  a  Palmyrian  inscription 
and  .some  coins  (see   Baudissin,  and  ou  the  coins   very  fully  Six  in  thu 


14        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUKE  IN  GENERAL. 

of  Ascalon,  to  whom  the  Neo-Platonist  Proclus  composed  a 
hymn,  is,  as  well  as  these  two,  to  be  regarded  as  an  originally 
Oriental  deity .■*°  The  genuinely  Greek  deities  Zeus,  Poseidon, 
Apollo,  Helios,  Athene,  etc.,  appear  also  on  the  coins  of 
Ascalon.'*^  A  temple  of  Apollo  in  Ascalon  is  mentioned  in 
pre-Herodian  times,  the  grandfather  of  Herod  having  been,  it 
is  said,  Hierodule  there.*^ 

In  Azotus,  the  ancient  Ashdod,  there  was  in  the  pre- 
Maccabaean  period  a  temple  of  the  Philistine  Dagon,  who  was 
formerly  also  w^orshipped  at  Gaza  and  Ascalon.'*^  At  the 
conquest  of  Ashdod  by  Jonathan  Maccabaeus,  this  temple 
was  destroyed,  and  the  heathen  worship  in  general  extirpated 
(1  Mace.  X.  84,  xi.  4).  Of  its  re-establishment  at  the  restora- 
tion by  Gabinius  no  particulars  are  known.  In  any  case 
Azotus  also  had  in  this  later  period  a  considerable  number  of 
Jewish  inhabitants  (see  §  23.  I.  Xr.  5). 

In  the  neighbouring  towns  of  Jamnia  and  Joppa  the 
Jewish  element  attained  the  preponderance  after  the  Macca- 
bi^an  age.     Joppa  is  nevertheless  of  importance  to  Hellenism, 

Numismatic  Chronicle,  1878,  p.  103  sqq.).  With  the  worship  of  Derceto 
was  connected  the  rehgious  honour  paid  to  the  dove  in  Ascalon,  on  which 
comp.  Philo,  ed.  Mang.  ii.  646  (from  Philo's  work,  de  Providentia,  in 
Eusebius,  Praep.  evang.  viii.  14.  16,  ed.  Gaisford ;  from  the  Armenian  in 
Aucher,  Philouis  Jadaei  sermoues  (res,  etc.,  p.  116).  On  the  literature,  the 
article  of  Baudissin  in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  2nd  ed.  i.  736-740,  is  worthy 
of  special  mention.  To  the  hst  here  given  of  the  hterature  must  be  added 
the  article  on  "Derceto  the  Goddess  of  Ascalon,''  in  the  Journal  of  Sacred 
Literature  and  Biblical  Record,  new  series,  vol.  vii.  1865,  pp.  1-20.  Ed. 
Meyer,  Zeitschr.  der  DMG.  1877,  p.  730  sqq.  Six,  Monnaies  d'Hierapolis 
en  Syrie  (Numismatic  Chronicle,  vol.  xviii.  1878,  pp.  103-131,  and  pi.  vi.). 
llayet,  Dedicace  a  la  de'esse  Atergatis  {Bulletin  de  correspondance  helleniqne, 
vol.  iii.  1879,  pp.  406-408).  The  inscription  found  in  Asty^mlia  and 
given  here  runs  thus :  Ayjioxo;  kx/  EvTropo;  ATupyccTstri  xyi6r,Kxv. 
Atargatis  occurs  only  three  times  besides  in  Greek  inscriptions.  Corp. 
inscr.  Grace,  n.  7046.  I^e  Bas  et  Waddingtou,  Inscriptions,  t.  iii.  n.  1890, 
2588. 

■•0  Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  591-593. 

*^  See  the  coins  in  Miounet  and  De  Saulcy,  as  above.     Stark,  p.  589. 

*'  Euseb.  Hist.  eccl.  i.  6.  2  ;  7.  11. 

■*^  See  on  this  temple,  Baudissin  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl,  2ud  ed. 
iii.  460-463,  and  the  literature  there  cited. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL,        15 

as  tlie  scene  of  the  myth  of  I't-iseus  and  Andromeda ;  it  was 
here  on  the  rock  of  Joppa,  that  Andromeda  was  exposed  to 
the  monster  and  delivered  by  Perseus.^  The  myth  retained 
its  vitality  even  during  the  period  of  Jewish  preponderance. 
In  the  year  58  b.c.,  at  the  splendid  games  given  by  M. 
.Scaurus  as  aedile,  the  skeleton  of  the  sea-monster  brought 
to  Rome  from  Joppa  by  Scaurus  was  exhibited.'*^  The  per- 
manence of  the  myth  in  this  locality  is  testified  by  Strabo, 
Mela,  Pliny,  Josephus,  Pausanias,  nay  even  by  Jerome.*^ 
The  Hellenistic  legend,  according  to  which  Joppa  is  said  to 
have  been  founded  by  Cepheus,  the  father  of  Andromeda, 
also  points  to  it.^''"  Pliny  even  speaks  of  a  worship  of  the 
Ceto  there,*^  and  Mela  of  altars  with  the  name  of  Cepheus 
and  his  brother  Phineus  as  existing  at  Joppa.'*'^'*  After  Joppa 
was  destroyed  as  a  Jewish  town  in  the  war  of  Vespasian,  the 
heathen  worship  regained  the  ascendancy  there.^^ 

In  Caesarea,  which  was  first  raised  to  a  considerable  city 
by  Herod  the  Great,  we  meet  first  of  all  with  that  worship 
of  Augustus  and   of  Borne,  which   characterized  the  Roman 

*^  The  cailiest  mention  of  Joppa  as  the  place  of  this  occuireuce  is  founil 
in  Scylax  (four  centuries  B.c.).  See  Müller,  G'cofjr.  gr.  minores,  i.  79 ; 
comp,  in  general,  Stark,  p.  255  sqq.,  593  sq. 

*^  Plinins,  Hist.  Nat.  ix.  5.  1 1 :  Beluae,  cui  dicebatur  exposita  fuisse 
Andromeda,  ossa  Romse  adportata  ex  oppido  Judaeae  Jope  ostendit  inter 
reliqua  miracula  in  aedilitate  sua  M.  Scaurus  longitudine  pedum  xl., 
altitudine  costarum  Indices  elephantos  excedente,  Spinae  crassitudine 
sesquipedali.  On  Scaurus,  comp,  the  review  of  the  Roman  Proconsols 
of  Syria  in  vol.  i.  On  the  time  of  his  aedileship,  Pauly's  Encycl.  i.  1, 
2nd  ed.  p.  372. 

<ß  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  759;  .Mela,  11  ;  Plinius,  v.  13.  69;  Joseph.  Bdl.  Jud. 
iii.  9.  3;  Pausanias,  iv.  35.  C<;  Hicronymus,  Comment,  ad  Jon.  i.  3  {0pp. 
ed.  Vallarsi,  vi.  394).  Most  make  mention,  that  traces  of  Andromeda's 
chains  were  seen  on  the  rock  at  Joppa. 

*"'  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  'lö-^r-^. 

*^  Plinius,  v.  13.  69  :  Colitur  illic  fabulosa  Ceto.  The  name  Ceto  is  indeed 
only  a  Latinizing  of  y-ijTo;  (sea-monster)  ;  comp.  Stark,  p.  257. 

*"*  Mela,  i.  11 :  ubi  Cephea  regnasse  eo  signo  accolae  adfirmant,  quod 
titulura  ejus  fratrisque  Phinei  vetercs  quacdara  arae  cum  religione  plurima 
retineut. 

*^  Comp,  in  general  the  coin.s  in  Mionnet,  v.  499  ;  Dc  Saulcy,  p.  176  sq. 
pi.  ix.  n.  3,  4. 


16  §  22.    THE  STA.TE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENERAL. 

period.  Provinces,  towns  and  princes  then  vied  with  each 
other  in  the  practice  of  this  cult,  which  was  indeed  prudently 
declined  by  Augustus  in  Eome,  but  looked  upon  with  approval 
and  promoted  in  the  provinces.*^  It  was  self-evident  that 
Herod  also  could  not  remain  behind  in  this  matter.  If  a 
general  remark  of  Josephus  is  to  be  taken  literally,  he 
"  founded  Caesarea  (Kacaapela,  i.e.  temples  of  Ciesar)  in 
many  towns."""  Such  are  specially  mentioned  in  Samaria, 
Panias  (see  below)  and  in  Caesarea.  The  magnificent  temple 
here  lay  upon  a  hill  opposite  the  entrance  of  the  harbour. 
Within  it  stood  two  large  statues,  one  of  Augustus  after  the 
model  of  the  Olympic  Zeus,  and  one  of  Eome  after  that  of 
Hera  of  Argos,  for  Augustus  only  permitted  his  worship  in 
combination  with  that  of  Eome.^^  "With  respect  to  the  other 
worships  of  Caesarea,  the  coins  show  a  motley  variety.  In 
saying  this  we  must  certainly  take   into   consideration,  that 

■^  Tacit.  Anna!,  i.  10,  Augustus  is  reproached  nihil  deorum  honoribus 
relictum,  cum  se  templis  et  effigie  numinum  per  flamines  et  sacerdotes  coli 
vellet.  Sueton.  Aiit/.  59  :  provinciarum  pleraeque  super  teinpla  et  aras  ludos 
quoque  quinquenuales  paene  oppidathn  constituerunt.  Only  in  Rome  did 
Augustus  decline  this  worship  (Sueton.  Avg.  52  :  in  urbe  quidein  pertina- 
cissime  abstinuit  hoc  honore) :  a  temple  was  first  erected  for  it  there  by 
Tiberius  (Tacit.  Annal.  vi.  45  ;  Sueton.  Calig.  21).  Among  the  temples  to 
Augustus,  which  have  been  preserved,  the  most  celebrated  is  that  at 
Ancyra,  on  which  comp.  Perrot,  Exploration  archcologique  de  la  Galatie  et 
de  la  Bithy7iie,  etc.  (1872),  pp.  295-312,  planche  13-31.  Compare  in 
general  on  the  worship  of  the  emperor,  Preller,  Römische  MytJiologie, 
p.  770  sqq. ;  Boissier,  La  religion  romaine  d^ Auguste  aux  Antonius  (2nd  ed. 
1878),  i.  pp.  109-186 ;  Kuhn,  Die  städt.  und  hürgerl.  Verfassung  des  vom. 
Reichs,  i.  112 ;  Älarquardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  vol.  iii.  (1878)  p. 
144  sqq.,  and  vol.  i.  (2nd  ed.  1881)  p.  503  sqq. ;  Le  Bas  et  Waddington, 
Inscript.  vol.  iii.  Illustrations  to  n.  885 ;  Perrot  as  above,  p.  295 ; 
Marquardt,  De  provinciarum  Romanarum  conciliis  et  sacerdotihus  (Ephemeris 
epigraphica),  i.  1872,  pp.  200-214 ;  Desjardins,  Le  culte  des  Divi  et  le  culte 
de  Rome  et  d'Auguste  (Revue  Je  philologie,  de  literature  et  d'histoire 
ancienues),  nouv.  serie,  iii.  1879,  pp.  33-63.  I  am  only  acquainted  with  the 
latter  from  Bursian's  philolog.  Jahresher.  xix.  620-622. 

^o  Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  4 ;  comp.  Antt.  xv.  9.  5. 

^'  Sueton.  Aug.  52 :  templa  ...  in  nulla  tamen  provincia  nisi  communi 
6U0  Komaeque  nomine  recepit.  On  the  temple  at  Caesarea,  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  21.  7 ;  Antt.  xv.  9.  6.  Philo  also  mentions  the  "Eißxaretov,  see  Legat,  ad 
Cajum,  §  38  fin.,  cd.  Mang.  ii.  590,/».     The  remains  of  a  tcm})le  h.ave  also 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENERAL.        17 

these  belong  for  the  most  part  to  the  second  and  third 
centuries,  which  is  of  importance  in  the  case  of  Caesarea, 
because  after  the  time  of  Vespasian  the  Eoman  element,  in 
opposition  to  the  Greek,  received  a  considerable  reinforcement 
in  the  Eoman  colony  introduced  into  Caesarea  by  that 
emperor.  Hence  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the 
Eoman  element,  that  the  Egyptian  Serapis,  who  was,  as  is 
well  known,  highly  honoured  in  Eome,  occurs  so  very  fre- 
quently. In  general,  however,  we  may  transpose  to  an  earlier 
period  also  the  deities  mentioned  on  the  coins.  We  here 
find  again  Zeus,  Poseidon,  Apollo,  Herakles,  Dionysos,  Athene, 
Nike,  and  of  female  deities  chiefly  Astarte,  according  to  the 
view  of  her  prevailing  in  Palestine.^^ 

The  coins  of  Dora,  which  are  assignable  to  a  period  subse- 
quent to  Caligula,  have  most  frequently  the  image  of  Zeus 
with  the  laurel.^^  In  a  narrative  of  Apion,  which  is  indeed 
a  silly  fiction,  Apollo  is  designated  the  dcus  Dorensmm!'^  His 
worship,  which  was  common  in  all  these  towns  (comp.  Eaphia, 
Gaza,  Ascalon,  Caesarea),  is  to  be  traced  to  Seleucid  influence. 
For  Apollo  was  the  ancestral  God  of  the  Seleucids,  as 
Dionysos  was  that  of  the  Ptolemies.^^ 

The  ancient  Ptolcmais  (Akko)  Avas  in  the  age  of  the 
Seleucids  and  Ptolemies  one  of  the  most  flourishing  of 
heathen  cities  (see  §  23.  I.  Nr.  11).  Hence  we  may  here 
assume,   even    without    more    special    information,   an    early 

been  discovered  in  Caesarea  by  the  recent  researches  of  Englishmen  (^The 
Survey  of  We.stern  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii.  13  sqq., 
with  plan  of  the  town,  p.  15).  It  must,  however,  remain  uncertain  whether 
they  are  those  of  the  temple  of  Augustus. 

^■-  Miounet,  v.  486-497  ;  Snppl.  viii.  3;]4-043.  Serapis  very  often.  Zeus, 
n.  53 ;  Svppl.  n.  43.  Poseidon,  n.  38.  Apollo,  n.  6,  12,  13  ;  Suppl.  n. 
7,  12,  15.  Herakles,  n.  16.  Dionysos,  n.  37,  54,  56.  Athene,  S}ippl. 
n.  37.  Nike,  n.  4;  Suppl.  n.  6,  8,  20.  Asfcirte,  n.  1,  2,  7,  18,  24,  51  ; 
Suppl.  n.  9,  10,  11,  45.  Still  more  in  De  Saulcy,  pp.  112-141, 
pi.  vii. 

•"  Mionuet,  v.  359-362 ;  Suppil.  viii.  258-260.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  142-148, 
pi.  vi.  n.  6-12.     Comp,  also  Eckhel,  iii.  362  sq. 

*•  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  ii.  9. 

"  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  568  sqq. 
DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  B 


18  §  22.   THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GEXEÜAL. 

penetration  of  the  Greek  worship.  Upon  the  autonomic  coins 
of  the  town,  belonging  probably  to  the  last  decades  before 
Christ  (soon  after  Caesar),  is  found  almost  universally  the 
image  of  Zeus.^''  In  the  time  of  Claudius,  Ptolemais  became 
a  Eoman  colony.  Upon  the  very  numerous  subsequent  coins 
is  found  chiefly  Tyche  (Fortuna) ;  likewise  Artemis,  Pluto 
and  Persephone,  Perseus  with  Medusa,  the  Egyptian  Serapis 
and  the  Phrygian  Cybele."  The  Mishna  gives  an  account  of 
a  meeting  of  the  famous  scribe  Gamaliel  II.  with  a  heathen 
philosopher  in  the  bath  of  Aphrodite.^^ 

•  Beside  the  towns  on  the  coast,  it  was  chiefly  the  districts 
in  the  east  of  Palestine  wliich  were  the  earliest  and  the  most 
completely  Hellen  ized.  It  is  probable  that  Alexander  the 
Great  and  the  IJiadochoi  here  founded  a  number  of  Greek 
towns,  or  Hellenized  towns  already  existing.  Hence  arose  in 
early  times  a  series  of  centres  of  Greek  culture  in  these  parts. 
Their  prosperity  was  interrupted  for  only  a  short  time  by 
the  cliaotic  work  of  destruction  of  Alexander  Jannaeus.  For 
Pompey  already  made  an  independent  development  again 
possible  to  them  by  separating  them  from  the  Jewish  realm 
and  combining  them  probably  under  the  name  of  Dccajjolis 
into  a  certain  sort  of  unity. 

Damascus  is  reckoned  by  Pliny  and  Ptolemy  as  the  chief 
among  these  cities  of  Decapolis.  It  was  an  important 
arsenal  even  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Its 
Hellenistic  character  at  that  period  is  testified  to  by  coins 
of  Alexander,  which  were  minted  there  (see  §  23.  I.  Nr.  12). 
From  that  time  onward  it  became  increasingly  a  Hellenistic 
city.  At  the  partition  of  the  great  empire  of  the  Seleucids 
into  several  portions  towards  the  end  of  the  second  century 
before  Christ,  it  even  became  for  a  while  the  capital  of  one  of 

"«  De  Saulcy,  pp.  1,54-156. 

*'' Mionnet,  v.  473-481;  Suppl.  viii.  824-331.  Tyche  (Fortuna) 
frequently.  Artemis,  n.  29,  39.  Pluto  and  Persephone,  u.  37.  Perseus, 
Suppl.  n.  19,  20.  Serapis,  n.  16,  24,  28.  Cybele,  n.  42.  Still  more  in 
De  Saulcy,  pp.  157-169,  pi.  viii. 

***  Ahoda  sara  in.  4. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENERAL.        19 

these  smaller  kingdoms.  As  was  consequently  to  be  expected, 
the  autonomic  and  mostly  dated  coins  of  Damascus  reaching 
to  the  commencement  of  the  Eomau  Empire,  present  us  with 
tlie  purely  Greek  deities :  Artemis,  Athene,  Nike,  Tyche, 
Helios,  Dionysos. ^^  Upon  imperial  coins  proper  the  emblems 
and  images  of  stated  divinities  are,  comparatively  speaking, 
but  seldom  found.  Silenus,  the  honoured  companion  of 
Dionysus  and  with  him  Dionysos  himself  here  occur  the  most 
frequently;  especially  in  the  third  century  after  Christ.^"  The 
Hellenistic  legend,  which  connects  him  with  the  foundation  of 
Damascus,  also  points  to  the  worship  of  this  god.^^  Perhaps 
his  worship  both  here  and  in  other  cities  of  Eastern  Palestine 
is  to  be  traced  to  Arabian  influence.  Eor  the  principal  deity 
of  the  Arabians  was  conceived  of  by  the  Greeks  as  Dionysos.*'^ 
Upon  the  Greek  inscriptions,  which  have  been  preserved  in 
Damascus  and  its  neighbourhood,  Zeus  is  more  frequently 
mentioned.'"^ 

In  many  of  the  towns  of  Decapolis,  especially  in  Kanatha, 
Gerasa,  and  Philadelphia,  the  existing  magnificent  ruins 
of  temples  of  the  Eoman  period  still  bear  witness  to  the 
former  splendour  of  the  Hellenistic  worship  in  these 
towns.  "^  Of  the  special  worships  of  the  several  towns,  we 
have  for  the  most  part  but  deficient  information.  In 
Scythopolis,   Dionysos   must    have    been    specially   honoured. 

«"  De  Saulcy,  pp.  30-33.  Artemis,  n.  2,  3,  7,  8,  10,  14,  21.  Athene, 
n.  2,  8,  14,  15.  Kike,  n.  11,  12,  22,  23.  Tyche,  n.  17,  18.  Helios,  n.  3, 
21.  Dionysos,  n.  24,  25.  Most  also  in  Mionnet,  v.  283  sq. ;  Supjil.  via. 
193  sqq. 

60  Mionnet,  v.  285-297 ;  Snppl.  viii.  193-20G.  Silenus,  n.  Gl,  62,  68, 
G9,  72,  77,  85;  Supj^l  n.  34,  35,  48.  Dionysos,  u.  80,  88.  The  most 
also  in  De  Saulcy,  pp.  35-5G. 

"'  Stephanus  Byz.  s.v.  AxccuaKo^. 

62  Herodot.  iii.  8.  Arrian,  vii.  20.  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  741.  Origones,  contra 
Cels.  V.  37.  Hcsych.  Lex.  s.v.  Aovaupr,;.  Krehl,  Ucbcr  die  Religion  der 
voridumischen  Araber,  18G3,  pp.  29  sqq.,  48  sqq. 

''^  Le  Bas  et  AVaddington,  Inscrlptioi.'i,  vol.  iii.  n.  1879,  2549,  2550. 
Zii/;  Kspx'Ji/io;  (at  Deir  Kanun  on  the  Nahr  Barada).  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec. 
4520  =  AVaddington,  n.  2557^^. 

6*  See  the  geographical  literature  niciitinned  in  §  23.  I. 


20  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENEEAL. 

For  the  town  was  also  called  Nysa/^  and  this  is  the  mytho* 
logical  name  of  the  place,  in  which  Dionysos  was  brought  up 
by  the  nymphs.  ^^  The  name  Scythopolis  was  also  referred 
mythologically  to  Dionysos  (see  §  23.  I.  Nr.  19).  On  the 
coins  of  Gadara  Zeus  is  most  frequently  met  with,  also 
Herakles,  Astarte  and  other  individual  deities. ^^  Artemis  is 
depicted  on  the  coins  of  Gerasa  as  the  Tü-)(rj  Fepdacov.'"^  In 
Philadelphia  Herakles  appears  to  have  been  the  principal 
divinity,  Tv^crj  ^ikaSeXcfyecov,  other  individual  gods  also  occur- 
ring.^^ The  coins  of  the  other  cities  of  Decapolis  are  not 
numerous,  and  offer  but  insufficient  material. 

Apart  from  the  coast  towns  and  the  cities  of  Decapolis,  there 
are  only  two  other  cities  in  which  especially  Hellenism  gained 
an  early  footing,  viz.  Samaria  and  Panias.  Alexander  the  Great 
is  said  to  have  settled  colonists  in  Samaria.  In  any  case  it 
was  an  important  Hellenistic  military  post  in  tlie  times  of  the 
Diadochoi  (see  §  33.  I.  Nr.  24).  The  town  was  indeed  razed 
to  the  ground  by  John  Hyrcanus,  but  the  Hellenist  rites 
must  certainly  have  been  re-established  at  its  restoration  by 
Gabinius,  and  have  attained   still   greater   ascendancy  at  the 

*5  Plinius,  Hist.  Nat.  v.  18.  74  :  Scythopolim  antea  N^ysam.  Steph.  Byz. 
s.v.  '^.Kvdö'Tzohii,  TLotKuiaTiuifiS  "^oKtii  >!  Nt/acrjjj  (1.  Nt/aa«)  Ko/X>jj  '^.vpioe.g.  On 
coins  chiefly  Nt/ff[«/(yf  ?]  '2.x.v6o\j7ro'h.trui)'\. 

^•^  A  whole  number  of  towns  claimed  to  be  the  true  Nysa.  See  Steph. 
Byz.  s.v.  (Nvaxi  ttö'Kh;  -TiroXKai),  Pauly's  Encycl.  v.  794  sq.  Pape-Benseler, 
Wörterhuch  der  griecli.  Eigennamen,  s.v. 

6^  Mionnet,  v.  323-328  ;  Sup2Jl.  via.  227-230.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  294-303, 
pi.  XV. 

^^  Mionnet,  v.  329  ;  Suppl.  viii.  230  sq.  De  Saulcy,  p.  384  sq.,  pl.  xxii. 
n.  1-2. 

69  Mionnet,  v.  330-333.  Snppl  viii.  232-336.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  386-392, 
pl.  xxii.  n.  3-9.  The  bust  of  the  young  Herakles  is  found  with  the  super- 
scription Hpux-T^m  upon  a  coin  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  L.  Verus  (see  the 
representation  of  it  in  De  Saulcy,  pl.  xxii.  n.  7).  Upon  two  others  (one 
of  Marcus  Aurelius,  the  other  of  Commodus)  is  depicted  a  vehicle  drawn 
by  four  horses,  with  the  superscription  YLpa.x.'hiiov  (Mionnet,  n.  77, 80  ;  De 
Saulcy,  pp.  390,  391).  According  to  the  ingenious  suj^position  of  Eckhel 
{Doctr.  Num.  iii.  351),  we  are  to  understand  by  the  latter  a  small  statue 
or  sacellum  which  was  on  festivals  carried  in  procession.  The  T^/^n 
^t'KuOi'hC^iov  upon  the  coins  of  Hadrian  and  Antoninus  Pius,  see  De 
Saulcy,  p.  389. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  GÜLTUKE  IN  GENERAL.        21 

enlargement  of  the  town  by  Herod  the  Great,  who  also  here 
erected  a  magnificent  temple  to  Augustus. "°  On  the  other 
worships  some  further  information  is  furnished  by  coins 
attributable  to  times  subsequent  to  Nero. '^  In  Panias,  the 
subsequent  Caesarea  Fhilippi,  the  Greek  Pan  must  have  been 
worshipped  since  the  commencement  of  Hellenic  times  in  the 
grotto  there ;  for  the  locality  is  in  the  days  of  Antiochus  the 
Great  already  mentioned  by  the  name  of  to  Tldveiov  (see  § 
23.  I.  Nr.  29).  The  continuance  of  his  worship  in  later 
times  is  also  abundantly  testified  by  coins  and  inscriptions.^' 
Herod  the  Great  built  here  as  well  as  in  Caesarea  Stratonis 
and  Samaria  a  temple  of  Augustus."^  Of  other  deities  Zeus 
is  most  frequently  found  upon  the  coins,  some  appear  singly  ; 
the  image  of  Pan  is,  however,  by  far  the  most  prevalent.  ''* 

Subsequently  to  the  second  century  after  Christ,  Hellenic 
worship  may  be  proved  to  have  existed  in  other  towns  of 
Palestine  also,  as  Sepphoris,  Tiberias,  etc.  It  may  however 
be  assumed  with  tolerable  certainty,  that  it  found  no  favour 
in  them  before  the  Vespasian  war.  For  till  then  the  cities  in 
question  were  chiefly  inhabited  by  Jews,  who  would  hardly  have 
tolerated  the  public  exercise  of  heathen  worship  in  their  midst.  ^^ 

The  case  was  different  with  the  half-heathen  districts  of 
Trachonitis,  Batanaea,  and  Auranitis,  east  of  the  Lake  of 
Gennesareth.     Here  too   tlie    Hellenistic    worships    probably 

7">  Bdl.  Jiul.  i.  21.  2  ;  comp.  Autt.  xv.  8.  5. 

"  Mioniiet,  v.  513-516  ;  Siippl.  viii.  35G-359.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  275-281, 
pi.  xiv.  n.  4-7. 

"  The  coins  in  Mionnet.  v,  311-315,  n.  10,  13,  16,  20,  23  ;  Suppl.  viii. 
217-220,  n.  6,  7,  8,  10.  Others  in  De  Saulcy,  pp.  313-324,  pi.  xviii.  ; 
comp,  especially  tlie  representations  of  Pan  with  the  flute  in  De  Saulcy, 
pi.  xviii.  n.  8,  9,  10.  The  inscriptions  in  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  Inscr. 
vol.  iii.  n.  1891,  1892,  1893  {=Corp.  Inner.  Grace,  u.  4538,  4537, 
Addenda,  p.  1179). 

"  Antt.  XV.  10.  3  ;  Bell.  .hid.  i.  21.  3. 

'*  See  Mionnet  and  De  Saulcy's  above-named  work. 

'^  That  tliere  were  no  heathen  temi>les  in  Tiberius  may  be  indirectly 
inferred  also  from  Josepli.  Vita,  12.  For  only  the  destruction  of  Herod's 
palace  adorned  with  images  of  animals  is  mentioned,  not  that  of  heathen 
temples. 


22        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

first  penetrated  to  a  wider  extent  subsequently  to  the  second 
century  after  Christ,  But  the  work  of  Hellenization  began 
with  the  appearance  of  Herod  and  his  sons,  who  gained  for 
culture  these  hitherto  half-barbarous  places  (see  above,  p.  4). 
The  worship  of  Hellenic  deities  was  afterwards  admitted.  The 
inscriptions,  of  which  a  special  abundance  has  been  preserved 
in  these  regions,  testify  to  its  prevalence  from  the  second  to 
the  fourth  centuries.  The  same  observation  must  however  here 
be  made  as  with  respect  to  the  Philistine  towns,  viz.  that  the 
native  Arabian  deities  were  still  maintained  beside  the  Greek 
gods. 

Among  these  Dusarcs,  compared  by  the  Greeks  to  Dionysos, 
takes  the  fu'st  place.  His  worship  in  Eoman  times  is  testified 
chiefly  by  the  games  dedicated  to  him,  the  "ÄKria  Aovadpia 
in  Ädraa  and  Bostral^  Several  other  Arabian  gods,  the 
names  of  some  of  whom  are  all  that  is  known  to  us,  are  also 
mentioned  upon  the  inscriptions.'^  The  Greek  deities  have, 
however,  the  preponderance  during  this  period.  Among  them 
by  far  the  most  frequently  occurring  is  Zeus/^  and  next  to 
him    Dionysos,    Kronos,   Herakles."^     Of   female    deities    the 


^^  Aovaä.prii  in  Le  Bas  et  'Waddington,  Inscr.  vol.  iii.  n,  2023,  2312. 
The  Nom.  propr.  J^ovaocpto^,  n.  191G.  xi'J'n  in  de  Yogiie,  Sijrle  Centrale, 
Inscriptions  se'mitiques,  pp.  1L3,  120.  The  "A^t/«  Aovaccoi»  in  ^lionnet,  v. 
577-585,  n.  6,  6,  18,  32,  33,  34,  36,  37.  The  same  also  in  De  Saulcy, 
pp.  375,  365,  369  sq.  Comp.  Tertullian,  Apolog.  24  :  Unicuique  etiam 
provinciae  et  civitati  suus  deus  est,  ut  Syriae  Astartes,  ut  Arabiae  Dusares. 
Hesych.  Lex.  s.v. :  ^ovaaprtv  tov  ^lövvuov  Nxßu.r»hi.  Krehl,  Ueber  die 
Religion  der  vorislamischen  Araber  (1863),  p.  48  sq.  Waddington's  illus- 
trations to  n.  2023.  Mordtmann,  Dusares  iu  Epiphanius  (Ztschr.  der  DMG. 
1875,  pp.  99-106). 

"  eexvlptrvi;  or  0s«:/3o/o?  in  Waddington,  n.  2046,  2374^  (C.  I.  Gr.  4609, 
Addend,  p.  1181),  2481.  See  concerning  him  "Waddington's  illustrations 
to  n.  2046.  Ouxacitxdo-j,  Waddington,  n.  2374,  2374^  vvp)  Qaqiu,  in  de 
Yogiie,  Syrie  Centrale,  Inscr.  se'm.  pp.  96,  103.  n>X.  Allath  (a  female 
deity),  de  Vogue,  pp.  100,  107,  119. 

'8  Waddington,  n.  2116,  2140,  2211,  2288,  2289,  2290,  2292,  2339,  2340, 
2390,  2412d  (Wetzstein,  185),  2413^  (Wetzst.  179),  2413J  (C.  /.  Gr.  4558), 
2413k  (C.  7.  Gr.  4559).     Zev;  Ti-Kuoc,  n.  2484. 

'*>  Dionysos,  Waddington,  n.  2309.  Kronos,  n.  2375,  2544.  Heracles, 
a.  2413c  (Wetzst.  177),  2428. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL.        23 

most  frequent  are  Athene  ^^  and  Tyche/^  then  Aphrodite,  Nike, 
Irene.^  Finally,  the  religious  syncretism  of  the  subsequent 
imperial  period  favoured  other  Oriental,  as  well  as  the  ancient 
native  deities.  Among  these  the  Syrian  Sun-god,  who  is  here 
adored,  now  under  his  Semitic  name  Avfiov,  now  under  his 
Greek  name  "HXlo^,  at  another  under  both  together,  plays  the 
chief  part.^  His  worship  so  flourished  in  Constantine's  time 
also,  that  a  considerable  temple  could  even  then  be  erected  for 
it  in  Auranitis.^*  Nay,  the  Christian  preachers  were  only 
able  to  suppress  it,  by  substituting  for  him  the  prophet 
'HXLa<i^  Besides  the  Syrian  Sun-god,  the  worship  of 
Marnas  of  Gaza  and  the  Egyptian  deities  Ammon  and  Isis, 
may  also  be  shown  to  have  been  practised.^'' 

Periodical  games  were  often  closely  connected  witli  the 
religious  rites.  In  this  department  also  the  predominance 
of  Hellenic  customs  may  be  proved  by  numerous  examples. 
But  even  here  authorities  for  the  Greek  period,  properly  so 
called,  are  extremely  few.  We  know,  that  Alexander  the 
Great  celebrated  splendid  games  at  Tyre.^^     The  TrevraeTrjpLKo^ 

80  Waddington,  n.  2081,  2203^  (Wetzst.  16),  2216,  2:308,  2410,  2-153, 
2461.     Also  with  a  local  colouring  ( Ah'yei  Toi^y.ulv;,  at  Kauatha),  u.  2345. 

81  "Waddington,  n.  2127,  217G,  24131' to  2413'  {  =  Corp.  Inner.  Graec.  n. 
4554  to  4557),  2506,  2512,  2514.  In  the  Semitic  Tv-/,^  the  name  of  a 
deity  is  rendered  by  ^3  (see  Lagarde,  Gesammelte  Abhandlanrjen,  1866, 
p.  16.  Mordtmann,  Zeitsclir.  tl.  DMG.  1877,  pp.  99-101,  and  comp,  the 
locality  near  Jerusalem  mentioned  in  the  Mishna  JV  ij,  Sahim  i.  5).  It 
does  not  however  follow  that  tlie  worship  of  Tv^n  can  be  traced  back  to 
the  old  Semitic  Gail,  the  wide  diffusion  of  which  cannot  be  proved  (comp, 
Baudissin  in  Herzog's  Real-Encijcl.  2nd  ed.  iv,  722  sq.).  Rather  is  the 
Syrian  Astarte,  with  which  Tyche  is  certainly  generally  connected,  to  be 
thought  of  (so  also  Mordtmann). 

82  Aphrodite,  AVaddington,  n,  2098.  Nike,  n.  2099,  2410,  2413j  (C.  I. 
Gr.  4558),  2479.     Irene,  n.  2526. 

83  Ai;^6t;,  Waddington,  n.  2441,  2455,  2456.  "Hx/oj,  n.  2398,  2407. 
'H?i;o,'  dii,;  Av,uo;,  u.  2392,  2393,  2395. 

8*  Waddington,  n.  2393.  85  ggg  Waddington  on  n.  2197. 

86  Marnas,  Waddington,  n.  2412«  (Wetzst.  183).  Ammon,  n.  2313, 
2382.  Isis,  n.  2527.  Also  upon  a  coin  of  Kanata  in  Mionnet,  Suppl.  viii, 
225,  n.  5. 

8^  Arrian,  ii.  24.  6;  iii.  G,  1.  Comp.  Plutarch,  ylfcx.  c.  29.  Droysen, 
Gesch.  d.  llelknismns  (2ud  ed.),  i.  1.  297,  325. 


24        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

a-'ycav  held  there  is  incidentally  mentioned  in  the  prefatory 
narrative  of  the  Maccabean  rising  (2  Mace.  iv.  18-20). 
On  the  same  occasion  we  learn  also  that  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
desired  to  introduce  the  Aiovvaia  into  Jerusalem  (2  Mace, 
vi.  7).  But  it  is  just  in  the  Hellenic  towns  of  Palestine 
that  the  celebration  of  such  solemnities  during  the  pre- 
Eoman  period  cannot  be  proved  in  detail,  though  from  the 
general  character  of  the  age  it  must  evidently  be  assumed.^^ 
Not  till  we  come  to  the  Roman  period  are  authorities  again 
abundant.  The  great  importance  of  public  games  in  imperial 
times  is  v/ell  koown ;  not  a  provincial  town  of  any  conse- 
quence was  without  them,^®  This  was  especially  the  case 
with  those  in  connection  with  the  cult  of  the  Imperator,  the 
games  in  lionour  of  the  emperor,  which  were  everywhere  in 
vogue,  even  in  the  time  of  Augustus.^^  In  Palestine  also 
they  were  introduced' by  Herod  into  Caesarea  and  Jerusalem. 
Other  games  of  various  kinds  also  existed  beside  them.  Their 
prevalence  in  the  chief  towns  of  Palestine  in  the  second 
century  after  Christ  is  proved  by  an  inscription  at  Aphrodisias 
in  Caria,  upon  which  the  council  and  people  of  the  Aphro- 
disians  record  the  victories  gained  by  one  Aelius  Aurelius 
Menander  in  several  contests.  Among  the  games  here 
enumerated  are  some  also  which  took  place  in  Palestinian 
towns.®^    In  a  similar  inscription  at  Laodicaea  in  Syria,  of  the 

*8  Comp.  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  59-1  sq. 

8Ö  Compare  on  the  games  in  the  Koman  period,  especially  Friedländer, 
Darstellungen  aus  der  SitteiKjescli.  Roms,  vol.  ü.  (3rd  ed.  1874)  pp.  261-622. 
On  their  organization  and  kinds,  also  Marqnardt,  Römische  Staatsver- 
waltung, vol.  iii.  (2nd  ed.  1878)  pp.  462-544  (also  edited  hy  Friedländer). 

^•^  Sueton.  Aug.  59  :  proviuciarum  pleraeque  super  templa  et  aras  ludos 
juoque  quinquennales  paene  oppidatim  constituerunt. 

^^  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  vol.  iii.  n.  1620'^.  The  inscription,  as  is  proved 
by  another  pertaining  to  it  (n.  1620*),  is  of  the  time  of  Marcus  Aurelius. 
The  part  which  interests  us  is  as  follows  : — 

Aoe.^xax,ou  ß   ecfdpuv  Trxi/xpxTtUf 

Ji'/ipvröu  dvOpoiv  'Kot.vx.pä.'ziv. 

Tvpov  dvQpuu  TTot.vx.pa.'civ, 

K»ia»psiuu  T'/^'j  '^rpot.Tuvog  dvopau  TTCcvKoxriVf 

Ntati'  mohiv  TSjf  '^.oi.y.ccplcc;  duopuu  'ttuvkoxtiv 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUP.E  IX  GENERAL.        25 

beginning  of  the  tliird  century  after  Christ,  the  victor  himself 
transmits  to  posterity  the  victories  he  obtained.  Here  too 
many  towns  of  Palestine  are  mentioned  as  the  theatres  of 
these  victories.^^  Lastly,  in  an  anonymous  Descripiio  totius 
orhis  of  the  middle  of  the  4th  century  after  Christ,  are 
enumerated  the  kinds  of  games  and  contests,  for  which  the 
most  important  towns  of  Syria  were  then  distinguished.^^ 
From  these  and  other  sources  the  following  materials  have 
been  compiled.** 

In  Gaza  a  '7rav7]yvpi<i  ""Ahpiavi'i  was  celebrated  from  the  time 
of  Hadrian.^^  A  TrayKpariov  is  mentioned  as  held  there 
in  the  inscription  of  Aphrodisias.^^  The  iximmacarii 
(=  irafjbfxd^oi  or  TrajKpaTiaarat)  of  Gaza   were  in  the  fourth 

'^x.vdjTTO'Ki'j  civopoiv  'za.vy.pv.TtVy 

Y»^x'^  ccudpuu  TT  mux.  peer  11/, 

Kxtaocpuxu  llccuixOot  ß'  dvopo'v  'Tzavy^pxrcj^  ... 

4>/?i«öiÄ(p£/o£»  T'^j    Apoeßiat;  dvOpuv  '7:ot,vx,pct,rtv. 

^2  Corp.  Inner.  Grace,  n.  4472  =  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  vol.  iii.  u.  1839. 
The  date  of  the  inscription  is  a.D.  221.  It  mentions  among  others  games 
at  Caesarea,  Ascalon  and  Scythopolis. 

^3  This  originally  Greek  Descriptio  tctlm  orhis  is  preserved  in  two  Latin 
paraphrases,  both  of  which  are  given  in  Jliiller's  Geo(jraphi  Gracci  minores, 
ii.  513-528.  One  also  in  Riese's  Geograjihi  Latini  minores  (1878),  pp.  104- 
126.  According  to  the  freer  but  more  intelligible  version  c.  32  runs  as 
follows :  lam  nunc  dicendum  est  quid  etiam  in  se  singulae  civitates,  de 
quibus  loquimur,  habeant  delectabile.  Habes  ergo  Antiochiam  in  ludis 
circensibus  eminentem ;  similiter  et  Laodiciam  et  Tyrum  et  Berytum  et 
Caesaream.  Et  Laodicia  mittit  aliis  civitatibus  agitatores  optimos,  Tyrus 
et  Berytus  mimarios.  Caesarea  pantoiuinios,  Ileliopolis  choraulas,  Gaza 
pammacarios,  Ascalon  athletas  luctatorcs,  Castabala  pyctas. 

"*  In  enumerating  the  towns  I  follow  the  same  order  as  above  when 
treating  of  the  worshij-s.  and  in  §  23.  I.  The  further  information  may  also 
be  given,  that  the  kinds  of  (jamcs  wqvh  in  general  as  follows:  (1)  in  the 
circus  (i'TTTTOloofios)  the  chariot  race ;  (2)  in  the  amphitheatre  the  contests 
of  gladiators  and  fights  of  wild  beasts;  (3)  in  tlie  theatre  plays,  pro- 
perly so  called,  to  whicii  were  also  added  pantomimes;  (4)  in  the  stadium 
gymnastic  games — boxing,  -wrestling,  and  running;  the  latter  wore  also 
sometimes  held  in  the  circus  (Marquurdt,  iii.  504  sq.).  At  the  great 
annual  feasts  several  of  these  gumts  were  generally  combined. 

"•^  Chron.  pancli.,  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  474. 

'"'  The  'TTotyKpuTiov  is  the  "  joint  contest,"  wliich  comprises  both  WTestling 
(7r«x>i)  and  boxing  (^vv/i^vj).  Hence  it  belongs  to  the  order  of  gymnastic 
games. 


26  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUllE  IN  GENERAL. 

century  the  most  famous  in  Syria.^'  Jerome  in  his  Life, 
of  Hilarmi  mentions  the  Circensian  games  there.^^  A 
ToXavTiaio^  a'^oav  is  testified  for  Ascalon  in  the  inscription  of 
Laodicaea.  Its  wrestlers  {athlelac  luctatores,  see  note  93)  were 
particularly  famous.  In  Caesarea  a  stone  theatre  and  a  large 
anjphitheatre,  the  latter  with  a  view  of  the  sea,  were  built  by 
Herod  the  Great ;  ^^  a  arahtov  is  mentioned  of  the  time  of 
Pilate ;  ^'^^  the  town  must  also  have  had  a  circus  from  its 
commencement,  since  a  ittttcoz/  Sp6fio<i  was  held  (see  below)  so 
early  as  at  the  dedication  by  Herod.  Even  now  traces  and 
remains  of  a  theatre  are  discernible.^^^  All  the  four  species 
of  games  having  thus  been  from  the  first  provided  for,  it  follows 
that  all  four  were  in  fact  celebrated  at  the  dedication  by  Herod 
the  Great.^"^  From  that  time  onwards  they  were  repeated  every 
four  years  in  honour  of  the  emperor.^°^  These  were  however 
of  course  not  the  only  games  held  at  Caesarea.  All  the  four 
kinds  may  also  be  pointed  out  singly  in  later  times.  1.  The 
ludi  circenscs  of  Caesarea  were  in  the  fourth  century  after 
Christ  as  famous  as  those  of  Antioch,  Laodicaea,  Tyre  and 
Berytus  (see   note  93).      2,  Titus  instituted  after  the  termina- 

^^  See  above,  note  93.  In  the  text  of  the  second  Latin  translation  of  the 
Dtscr.  totius  orbis,  it  is  said  more  fully  concerning  Gaza :  aliquando  aufcem 
et  Gaza  habet  bonos  auditorcs,  dicitur  autem  habere  earn  et  pammacliarios. 
The  Latin  auditores  is  nndonbtedly  an  erroneous  translation,  perhaps  for 
ciJcpoccy.ciTiy.Qi  (see  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  595). 

'•'^  Hieronymus,  Vila  Hilarionis,  c.  20  (0pp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  ii.  22):  Sed  et 
Italiens  ejusdem  oppidi  municeps  Christianus  adversus  Gazensem  Duum- 
virum,  Marnae  idolo  deditum,  circenses  equos  nutriebat. 

93  A7itl.  XV.  9.  6ßi. ;  Bell.  Jnd.  i.  2L  8. 

loo  Antt.  xviii.  3.  1 ;  Bell.  Jiid.  ii.  9.  3. 

^"1  The  Survey  of  Western  Pedesline,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener, 
ii.  13  sqq.  (with  plan  of  the  town,  p.  15). 

^^-  Antt.  xvi.  .0.  1 :  x,otTr,y"ys7^x.ii  f/Ji/  yxp  dycj^/ot  /LcovaiKt];  x.ot.1  yvy.vf/.u» 
xd'Kini^ccruv,  'X»piiTX,iv»>t.ii  OS  "TTO^.v  'TzT^vjdog  fiouofiec^^uv  y.xl  d/jpiuv,  hwüiu  Tg 
opöf/.ov,  etc. 

^"2  The  games  were  celebrated  y.arci  -TrturuizYtpi^»  {Antt.  xvi.  5.  1)  and 
hence  called  7r:-yrccir-/ipt!cot  cc")  oii/sg  {Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  8).  According  however  to 
our  mode  of  expression  these  games  were  held  every  four  years.  The  same 
formula  are  constantly  used  of  all  fourth  yearly  games,  the  Olympic,  the 
Actian,  etc.  See  the  Lexica  and  the  material  in  the  index  to  the  Corp. 
Inscr.  Graec.  p,  158,  5.1;. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENERAL.        27 

tion  of  the  Jewish  war  ghidiatorial  contests  and  fights  of  wild 
beasts,  in  which  hundreds  of  Jewish  prisoners  were  sacrificed.^''* 
The  Emperor  Maximiuus  exhibited  at  the  celebration  of  his 
birthday  animals  brought  from  India  and  Ethiopia.^°^  3. 
Games  in  the  theatre  are  mentioned  in  the  time  of  King 
Agrippa  I.^^''  The  pantomimi  of  Caesarea  were  in  tlie  fourth 
century  tlie  most  famous  in  Syria  (see  note  93).  We  must 
understand  indeed  of  pantomimic  games  also,  what  Eusebius 
says  of  the  games  of  ]\Iaximinus.^*'"  4.  A  TrayKpdrtov  is 
mentioned  in  the  inscription  of  Aphrodisias,  a  boxing-match 
in  that  of  Laodicaea.-^"^  In  Ptolemais  a  gymnasium  was 
built  by  Herod  the  Great.^°^^ 

In  Damascus  also  a  gymnasium  and  theatre  were  built  by 
Herod  the  Great  (see  Josephus  as  before).  The  existence  of 
a  TrayKpa-Tiov  there  is  testified  to  by  the  inscription  of  Aphro- 
disias, and  aeßda/xca  (games  in  honour  of  the  emperor)  are 
mentioned  upon  the  coins  since  Macrinus.^"'^  liuins  of  two 
theatres  are  still  standing  at  Gadara.^^*'  A  paufxa^la  there 
occurs  on  the  coins  of  Marcus  Aurelius.^^^  Kanc.tha  has 
besides  ruins  of  its  temple  those  of  a  small  theatre,  hewn  out 
in  the  rock  and  designated  on  an  inscription  as  öearpoetSe? 
whelov}^'^  In  Scythopolis  traces  of  a  hippodrome  are  found, 
and  ruins  of  a  theatre  are  still  standing.^^'^     A  irwy/cpaTLov  is 

!»♦  BelJ.  Jii'l.  vii.  31.  i«^  Euseb.  De  Martijr.  Palaest.  vi.  1-2. 

106  Antt.  xix.  7.  4  ;  8.  2.  On  the  i,'aiues  mentioned  in  the  last  passnge,  as 
held  in  honour  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  see  above,  §  18,  i^.  fin. 

1"^  De  ]\Iartijr.  PaJaest.  vi.  2 :  dvopuv  ivrh^vois  ricl  aoiit-xaKicti;  'Trxpxhö^ovg 
y^vXiOt-yw/iets  roig  ipuatv  iiiO£iKvv/:cii/uv.     See  also  the  note  of  A'alesius. 

108  "j^jg  ^^yf^yj  toolc  fjlaoe  on  the  occasion  of  the  "Ssoviipiio;  ütKouftii/iKog 
Tlvßtxög  (seil,  «ywv),  i.e.  of  tlie  Pytiiic  games  dedicated  to  the  Emperor 
Septimius  Sevorus. 

losa  Joseph.  Btll.  Jud.  i.  21.  11. 

'"'  Mionnet,  v.  291  sqq. :  Suppl.  viii.  198  sqq.     De  Sanlcy,  p.  42  sqq. 

"°  See  the  geographical  literature  cited  in  §  23.  I.  note  179. 

"1  See  especially  Eckh'  1,  Ijuctr.  Xum.  iii.  348  sqq.,  also  Mionnet,  v.  826, 
n.  38.     De  Saulcy,  p.  299. 

'1-  The  inscription  in  Le  Bas  et  Waddiugton,  vol.  iii.  n.  2341.  On 
the  building  itself,  see  the  geographical  literature  cited  §  23.  I.  note  214. 

^"  See  especially,  7'Jie  Survey  of  Wtstcrn  Palcstitie,  Memoir.^  by  Conder 
and  Kitchener,  vol.  ii.  p.  106  (plan  of  the  liippodrome)  and  p.  107  (plan 


28        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUKE  IN  GENERAL. 

mentioned  in  the  inscription  of  Aphrodisias,  and  a  raKavTialo^ 
af^öiv  in  that  of  Laodicaea.  Among  the  magnificent  ruins  of 
Gcrasa  are  found  those  of  two  theatres  and  traces  of  a 
Naumachia  (an  amphitheatre  erected  for  battles  of  ships),-^^* 
Philadelphia  too  possesses  the  ruins  of  a  theatre  and  of  an 
Odeum  (a  small  roofed  theatre)/^^  and  a  TrayKpariov  is  men- 
tioned in  the  inscription  of  Aphrodisias.  In  Caesarea  Fanias 
"  various  spectacles  "  (TravToia^  Oecopia';),  especially  gladiatorial 
contests  and  wild  beast  fights,  in  which  Jewish  prisoners 
were  used,  were  given  by  Titus  after  the  termination  of  the 
Jewish  war.^^^  A  TrayKpariov  held  there  is  mentioned  in  the 
inscription  of  Aphrodisias.  On  games  in  the  Jewish  towns 
(Jerusalem,  Jericho,  Tarichea,  Tiberias),  see  the  next  section. 

Besides  the  religious  rites  and  games,  there  is  finally  a  third 
point  which  shows  how  deeply  Hellenism  had  penetrated  in 
many  of  these  towns,  viz.  that  they  produced  men,  who 
gained  a  name  in  Greek  literature.  Among  the  coast  towns 
Ascalon  is  especially  prominent  in  this  respect.  In  Stephanu? 
of  Byzantium  {s.v.  'AaKoXwv)  are  enumerated  four  Stoic  philo- 
sophers :  Antiochus,  Sosus,  Antibius,  Eubius,  who  were  natives 
of  Ascalon.  Of  these  only  Antiochus  is  elsewhere  known. 
He  was  a  contemporary  of  Lucullus  and  a  teacher  of  Cicero, 
and  therefore  belongs  to  the  first  century  before  Christ,  His 
system  is  moreover  not  exactly  stoic  but  eclectic.-'^'^  As  gram- 
marians of  Ascalon,  Ptolemaeus  and  Dorotheas,  as  historians 
Apollonius  and  Artemidorus  are  named  by  Steph.  Byz.  The 
two  latter  are  unknown.  Dorotheas  is  elsewhere  quoted,  but 
his   date   cannot    be    decided.-^^^       Next    to    the    philosopher 

of  the  theatre).  The  theatre  is  according  to  Conder  (ii.  lOG)  the  best 
preserved  spechneu  of  Eoman  work  in  Western  Palestine, 

^^*  See  the  geographical  literature  cited  §  23,  note  1.  253, 

11^  See  the  literature  cited  §  23,  note  1.  270. 

"6  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  2.  1, 

^"  See  Pauly's  Encykl.  i,  1  (2nd  ed.),  p.  1141  sq.,  and  the  literature  there 
cited,  especially  Zeller.  Also  Hoyer,  De  Antiocho  Ascalonita,  Bonn 
1883. 

^^*  See  Fabricius,  Bihlioth.  graeca,  ed.  Harles,  i.  511,  vi.  365,  x,  719. 
Pauly's  Encykl.  ii.  1251.     Nicolai,  GriecJi.  Literaturgesch.  ii.  381. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL.        29 

Antioclius,  the  grammarian  Ptolemaeus  is  best  known.^^^  If 
he  was,  as  stated  by  Stephen,  'Apia-rdp'x^ov  'yvoopiixo'^,  he  would 
belong  to  the  second  century  before  Christ.  He  is  probably 
however  of  a  considerably  later  date  (about  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era).^"''  Among  the  towns  of  Decapolis  Gadara 
and  Gerasa  are  especially  to  be  mentioned  as  the  birthplaces 
of  distinguished  men.  Of  Gadara  was  the  Epicurean  Philo- 
demus,  the  contemporary  of  Cicero,  numerous  fragments  of 
whose  writings  have  become  known  through  the  rolls  dis- 
covered in  Herculaneum  ;  also  the  epigrammatic  poet  Meleager 
and  the  cynic  Menippus,  both  probably  belonging  to  the  first 
century  before  Christ.  The  Greek  anthology  contains  more 
than  a  hundred  epigrams  of  Meleager,  nay  he  was  himself  the 
founder  of  this  collection.  Lastly  the  rhetorician  Theodorus, 
the  tutor  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  was  also  a  Gadarene.  All 
the  four  are  already  mentioned  in  combination  by  Strabo.^^^ 
Of  Gerasa  were,  according  to  Steph.  Byz.  {s.v.  Tepaaa) : 
Ariston  (pt^rojp  daTeio<;),  Kerykos  (aocpcaTi]';)  and  Plato 
{uo/xtKo<;  pijrcop),  all  three  not  otherwise  known. 

2.  Hellenism  in  the  Jewish  RegionP^^ 

In  the  Jewish  region  proper  Hellenism  was  in  its  religious 
aspect  triumphantly  repulsed  by  the  rising  of  the  Maccabees ; 
it  was  not  till  after  the  overthrow  of  Jewish  nationality  in  the 
wars  of  Vespasian  and  Hadrian,  that  an  entrance  for  heathen 

^^^  See  Fabricius,  Biblioth.  gracca,  i.  521,  vi.  156  sqq.  Pauly's  Ei)c>jkl, 
vi.  1,  142.  Nicolai,  Griech.  Litcraturge.sch.  ii.  347.  Baege,  Dc  Ptolemaco 
Ascalonita,  1882;  also  in  DlastrUitiones  pliilol.  Halenscs,  v.  2,  1883. 

120  Comp,  on  the  date  of  I'toleniy,  Baege,  pp.  2-6.  In  Stark,  (inza,  he  is, 
certainly  through  inadvertence,  transposed  to  the  niicMle  of  the  third 
century. 

^-^  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  759.  For  further  particulars  on  all  four,  see  the  works 
of  Fabricius  {Biblioth.  grace),  Pauly  {Encgkl.),  Nicolai  {Griech.  Literatur- 
gesch.)  ;  on  Philodemus  aud  Menippus  in  the  works  of  Zeller  and  Uebcrwcg 
on  the  history  of  Greek  philosophy ;  on  ^lenippus,  \Yildenow,  De  Menippo 
Cynico,  Ilalis  Sax.  1881. 

i-^a  Comp,  in  general  Hamburger,  Rculcncyclop.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud^ 
2nd  Div.,  article  ''  Griechenthuui," 


30  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IK  GENEEA.L. 

rites  was  forcibly  obtained  by  the  Eoinaus.  In  saying  this 
however  we  do  not  assert,  that  the  Jewish  people  of  those 
early  times  remained  altogether  unaffected  by  Hellenism.  For 
the  latter  was  a  civilising  power,  which  extended  itself  to  every 
department  of  life.  It  fashioned  in  a  peculiar  manner  the 
organization  of  the  state,  legislation,  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, public  arrangements,  art  and  science,  trade  and  industry, 
and  the  customs  of  daily  life  down  to  fashion  and  ornaments, 
and  thus  impressed  upon  every  department  of  life,  wherever 
its  influence  reached,  the  stamp  of  the  Greek  mind.  It  is  true 
that  Hellenistic  is  not  identical  with  Hellenic  culture.  The 
importance  of  the  former  on  the  contrary  lay  in  the  fact,  that 
by  its  reception  of  the  available  elements  of  all  foreign  cultures 
within  its  reach,  it  became  a  world-culture.  But  this  very 
world-culture  became  in  its  turn  a  peculiar  whole,  in  which  the 
preponderant  Greek  element  was  the  ruling  keynote.  Into 
the  sti'eam  of  this  Hellenistic  culture  the  Jewish  people  was 
also  drawn ;  slowly  indeed  and  with  reluctance,  but  yet 
irresistibly,  for  though  religious  zeal  was  able  to  banish 
heathen  worship  and  all  connected  therewith  from  Israel,  it 
could  not  for  any  length  of  time  restrain  the  tide  of  Hellenistic 
culture  in  other  departments  of  life.  Its  several  stages 
cannot  indeed  be  any  longer  traced.  But  when  we  reflect 
tliat  the  small  Jewish  country  was  enclosed  on  almost  every 
side  by  Hellenistic  regions,  with  which  it  was  compelled,  even 
for  the  sake  of  trade,  to  hold  continual  intercourse,  and  when 
we  remember,  that  even  the  rising  of  the  Maccabees  was  in  the 
main  directed  not  against  Hellenism  in  general,  but  only  against 
the  heathen  religion,  that  the  later  Asmonaeans  bore  in  every 
respect  a  Hellenistic  stamp — employed  foreign  mercenaries, 
minted  foreign  coins,  took  Greek  names,  etc.,  and  that  some 
of  them,  e.g.  Aristobulus  I.,  were  direct  favourers  of  Hellenism, 
— when  all  this  is  considered,  it  may  safely  be  assumed,  that 
Hellenism  had,  notwithstanding  the  rising  of  the  Maccabees, 
gained  access  in  no  inconsiderable  measure  into  Palestine  even 
before  the  commencement  of  the  Eoman  period.     Its  further 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENERAL.        31 

diffusion  was  not  to  any  considerable  amount  promoted  by  the 
rule  of  the  Eomans  and  Herodians,  who  added  to  it  that 
Latin  element,  which  makes  itself  so  very  apparent  especially 
after  the  first  century  of  the  Cliristian  era.  For  this  later 
age  (the  first  half  of  the  second  century  after  Clirist),  tlie 
]\Iishna  affords  us  copious  material,  plainly  showing  the  influ- 
ence of  Hellenism  upon  every  sphere  of  life.  A  multitude  of 
Greek  and  also  of  Latin  words  in  the  Hebrew  of  the  Mishna 
shows,  how  it  was  just  Hellenistic  culture  which  had  gained 
an  ascendancy  in  Palestine  also.  A  series  of  examples  may 
serve  to  substantiate  this  in  detail  also.-^^" 

It  is  chiefly  of  course  in  the  department  of  civil  government 
and  military  matters  that,  together  with  foreign  arrangements, 
we  find  foreign  terms  also  current.  A  provincial  governor  is 
called  |iDjn  {i]'ye/jL(öv),  a  province  x"'Jl?Ojn  (riyefxovia),  the  muni- 
cipal authorities  of  a  town  "»anN  (j^PXV-^''^'  ^^r  soldiers  in 
general  the  Latin  niiVJ^  (legiones)  is  used  ;  an  army  is  called 
t<'D"^L2D^<  (a-rpaTia),  war  DID^D  (TToXeyLto?),  pay  N'':dbx  (o-^ooviov), 
a  helmet  «nop  (cassida),  a  shield  D*~in  {0vpe6<i)}-'^  In  matters 
of  jurisprudence,  Jewish  traditions  were  in  general  strictly 
adhered  to.     The  law,  given  to  His  people  b}'    God  through 

^--  The  comiDilatiou  following  is  for  the  most  part  the  result  of  my  owu 
collection.  Anton  Theodor  Hartmann's  catalogue  of  the  Greek  and  Laitin 
words  in  the  Wi&hna  {Thesauri  lititjuac  hehraicac  e  3Iishia  aiKjcndi  partlcula 
i.  (Kostochii  1825),  pp.  40-47,  comp.  Pt.  iii.  (182G,  p.  95)),  a  very  careful 
work,  though  not  comjilete  as  to  authorities,  has  famished  me  with  several 
needed  additions.  Comp,  also  on  the  foreign  words  in  the  Mishna  and 
Talmud,  Sachs,  Beiirage  zur  J^prach-  und  Altertlnam^forsdanuj  uns  jüdischen 
(liulleii,  Kos.  I.  and  II.  185l'-1854.  Cassel  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Enci/cL, 
Div.  ii.  vol.  27,  p.  28  sq.  Adolf  Brull,  Fremdsprachliche  Redensarien  und 
ausdrücklich  ids  fremdsprachlich  bezeichnete  Wörter  in  den  Talmuden  und 
Midraschim,  Leipzig  1869.  Perles,  Etj/mologische  Studien  zur  Kunde  der 
rahbinische  Sprache  und  Althertlnimer,  Breslau  1871.  N.  Brull,  Frcmd- 
sjirachliche  Wörter  in  den  Talmuden  und  Midraschim  {Jahrb.  fur  jüdische 
Gesch.  und  Literatur,  i.  1874,  pp.  12.''!-220). 

^"  pDJn,  Edujoih  vii.  7  ;  t^-iJlDjn,  O'itlin  i.  1  ;  "13^^^,  Kiddushin  iv.  5. 

^-*  ni3VJ?,  Kelim  xxix.  6;  Ohalvth  xviii.  10;  {<*unL!DX,  Kiddushin  iv 
5  ;  Diohc,  Svta  ix.  14  ;  Para  viii.  9  ;  S'-ID^S  ("ot  X''2£DX),  see  Levy, 
JS'c/dicbr.  Wiirtcrhuch,  s.v.,  Sanhedrin  ii.  4;  X^Dp,  Sh(dibath  vi.  2;  Kelim 
%\.  8;  Dnn,  Shabhath  vi.  4;  Sota  viii.  1;  Aboth  iv.  II. 


32  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  GENEKAL. 

Moses,  extended  not  only  to  sacred  transactions,  but  also  to 
matters  of  civil  law  and  the  organization  of  the  administration 
of  justice.  Here  too  then  the  Old  Testament  was  in  essential 
points  the  standard.  We  nevertheless  meet  with  Greek 
terms  and  arrangements  in  some  particulars  in  these  depart- 
ments also.  The  court  of  justice  is  indeed  generally  called  r\^2 
p,  but  sometimes  also  pnnniD  (avviSptov),  the  assessors  pnn-iD 
(TTupeSpot),  the  accuser  nirnp  {KaTTjyopo';),  the  advocate  D''^piD 
(•jrapdK\'7]To<;),  a  deposit  '»p^niax  {virodrjKrj),  a  testament 
••pwi  {SLa6rjK7}),  a  guardian  or  steward  DlD"nD''DX  {e7rirpo'rro<;)}^^ 
ISTay  even  for  a  specifically  Jewish  legal  institution,  intro- 
duced in  the  time  of  Hillel,  viz.  the  declaration  before  a 
court  of  justice j  that  the  right  to  call  in  a  given  loan  at  any 
time  was  reserved  notwithstanding  the  Sabbatic  year,  the 
Greek  expression  bnrna  {trpoaßokrj)  was  used.^^^ 

Of  other  public  institutions,  games  again  come  first  into 
notice.  Pharisaic  Judaism  has  always  repudiated  the  heathen 
kind  of  games.  Philo  indeed  says  in  his  work.  Quod  omnis 
■prohus  liter,  that  he  was  once  present  at  an  ä'^oav  iray- 
KpaTiaaTMv,  and  another  time  at  the  performance  of  a  tragedy 
of  Euripides.^^  But  what  the  cultured  Alexandrian  allowed 
himself  was  no  standard  for  the  strict  legal  Palestinians. 
Even  in  the  period  of  the  Maccabees  the  building  of  a 
gymnasium  in  Jerusalem  and  the  visiting  of  the  same  on 
the  part  of  the  Jews  is  mentioned  as  a  chief  abomination  of 
the  prevailing  Hellenism  (1  Mace.  i.  14,  15;  2  Mace.  iv.  9-17). 
And  this  continued  to  be  the  standpoint  of  legal  Judaism.^^ 

^^^{"mrijD,  Sota  ix.  11;  Kiddushm  iv.  5;  Sanhedrln  i.  5-6;  Shehuoth 
ii.  2  ,  Middoth  v.  4  ;  specially  abundant  in  the  later  Targums,  see  Buxtorf, 
Lex.  Chald.,  and  Levy,  Chald.  Wörterb.  s.w.— piimD,  Joma  1.  1  ;  "iirDp 
and  D''^p-ia,  Aboth  iv.  11 ;  '•p^niDX,  Glttin  iv.  4  ;  "p^nn,  Moed  kalan  iii.  3  ; 
Baba  mezia  i.  7  ;  Baba  bathra  viii.  6  ;  D1S"nD''DS,  Shebiith  x.  6  ;  Bikknrim 
L  5  ;  Pe.tachim  viii.  1 ;  Gittin  v.  4  ;  Baba  kamma  iv.  4,  7  ;  Baba  bathra  iii.  3  ; 
Sliebuoth  vii.  8 ;  sanD'^SN  (stewardess),  Kethuboth  ix.  4,  6. 

^-•^  i'lnmB,  Pea  iii.  6 ;  Shehiith  x.  3-7 :  Moed  katan  iii.  3 ;  Kethd^oth 
ix.  9  ;   Gittin  iv.  3  ;   Ukzin  iii.  10. 

^2'  0pp.  ed.  Mangey,  ii.  449  and  467. 

^2*  Aboda  sara  i.  7  :  "  Neither  bears,  lions,  nor  anything  from  whicli  harm 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL.        33 

Even  Josepbus  designates  the  theatre  and  amphitheatre  as 
"  foreign  to  Jewish  customs."  '^'  Judaism  however  was 
unable,  in  spite  of  this  theoretic  repudiation,  to  prevent 
the  pageantry  of  heathen  games  from  developing  in  the  midst 
of  the  Holy  Land  during  and  after  the  Herodian  period ;  and 
we  cannot  assume  that  the  mass  of  the  Jewish  population 
denied  themselves  from  visiting  them.  A  theatre  and  amphi- 
theatre were  built  in  Jerusalem  by  Herod,  Vvho  instituted 
there  as  well  as  at  Caesarea  games  every  four  years  in  honour 
of  the  emperor.'^*^  The  games  imply  the  existence  also  of  a 
stadium  and  hippodrome,  the  latter  indeed  is  once  expressly 
mentioned.^^^  In  Jericho  where  Herod  seems  to  have 
frequently  resided  were  a  theatre,  amphitheatre  and  hippo- 
drome.^^^  In  Tiberias  a  stadium  is  incidentally  mentioned.^^^ 
Even  so  unimportant  a  town  as  Tarichea  had  a  hippodrome.^^ 
The  public  hatlis  and  public  inns  were  further  arrangements 
showing  the  influence  of  Hellenism.  The  bath  indeed  was 
designated  by  a  purely  Hebrew  expression  TC'?'?-  But  the 
name  for  the  director  of  the  bath,  |?3  (ßaXavev<;),  points  to 
its  Greek  origin.'^     In  the  case  of  the  public  inns  their  Greek 

to  others  might  arise,  might  be  sold  to  the  heathen.  They  may  not  be 
helped  in  building  a  Basilica,  a  place  of  execution  (Gradum),  a  Stadium  or 
Bema.  Comp,  in  general,  Winer,  Realwörterb.  s.v.  "  Spiele  "  and  the  litera- 
ture there  cited.  Low,  Die  Lehensalter  in  der  jüdischen  Literatur  (1875),  pp. 
291-300.  Weber,  System  der  altsyiiaf/Of/alen  palästin.  Iheologie  (1880),  p. 
68:  Opinion  was  everywhere  very  strict  "on  the  theatre  and  circus  of 
the  heathen."  Hamburger,  Real-Encydopädie  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  Div. 
ii.  article  "  Theater." 

^^^  Antt.  XV.  8.  1  :  dixrpou  .  .  .  ecfHpidixrpoi/,  Vipio-Trrx  y,iv  ä.f/.^u  rri 
'TTo'Kvn'Kiiec,  rov  di  Karo,  rovg    lovixiov ;  söov ;  ocAy^örpioi'  xpri>xi;  n  yecp 

»ilTilV    Kxi     hx/ÜXTUV    T<Jl(lVTUV     i~iOil^tg     OV     'TTOtpxZihoTXI.        TllC    JCWS     SaW     ill 

these  games  a  ^xvipx  KXTx'hvaig  ruv  ■Tt[/.u(/.i'juv  7:xp   xvtoI;  iditv. 

'^°  Antt.nY.  8.  1.  The  games  at  Jerusalem,  like  those  at  Caesarea,  com- 
prised all  the  four  kinds  :  gymnastic  and  musical  games,  chariot  racing  and 
contests  of  wild  beasts.     See  the  further  description  in  Josephus  as  above. 

131  Antt.  xviü.  10.  2;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  3.  1. 

132  Theatre,  Antt.  xvii.  6.  3.  Amphitheatre,  Antt.  xvii.  3.  2;  Bell. 
Jud.  i.  33.  8.     Hippodrome,  xvii.  G.  5  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  33.  6. 

133  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  21.  6,  iii.  10.  10 ;    Vita,  xvii.  64. 
13*  Bell.  .hid.  ii.  21,  3  ;    Vita,  xxvii.  28. 

^^*  p3,  Kelim  xvii.  1  ;    Sahim  iv.  2.     Compare  on  the  baths  as  a  heathen 
DIV.  IL  VOL.  I.  C 


34        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

name,  ^pTJlD  (jravhoKeiov  or  iravho'^elov),  already  showed  them 
to  be  a  product  of  the  Hellenistic  period.'^'' 

Architecture  in  general  and  especially  in  public  buildings 
must  be  regarded  as  emphatically  a  Hellenizing  element.^^^ 
In  the  Hellenistic  towns  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Palestine 
this  is  of  course  self-evident.  They  all  had  their  vaov<i, 
Oearpa,  'yv/jLvdaia,  e^€8pa<i,  (TTod<t,  d<yopd<i,  vSaTCOv  ela-wyooyd'i, 
ßakavela,  Kpr)va<i  and  'jreplcnvka  in  Greek  fashion.^^  But 
also  in  Palestine  proper,  the  prevalence  of  the  Greek  style — 
especially  since  the  time  of  Herod — may  be  safely  assumed. 
When  Herod  built  himself  a  splendid  palace,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  he  adopted  for  it  the  Graeco-Pioman  style.^^  The 
same  remark  applies  also  to  the  other  contemporary  palaces 
and  monuments  of  Jerusalem.  In  any  case  not  only  were 
Stadia'**'  known  in  Palestine, — as  must  be  assumed  from  what 
has  been   remarked    about  the   games, — but   also  Basilica,^*^ 

institution  but  one  permissible  to  Jews,  especially  Ahoda  sara  i.  7,  iii.  4. 
On  their  diffusion  and  arrangements,  Marquardt,  Das  Privatlehen  der 
Römer,  vol.  i.  (1879)  p.  262  sqq.  Hermann  and  Blümner,  Lehrh.  der 
griechischen  Privatalterthümer  (1882),  p.  210  sqq. 

^^®  ^p*131Q,  Jebamoth  xvi.  7 ;  Gittin  viii.  9  ;  Kiddushin  iv.  12  ;  Eduj'oth 
iv.  7  ;  Ahoda  sara  ii.  1.  n"'p1ilS  (the  hostess),  Demai  iii,  5  ;  Jehamoih 
xvi.  7.  Foreign  travellers  are  called  N^JD3S<  or  p^53D^N  (^^voi),  Demai 
iii.  1 ;  Chullin  viii.  2.  '•plilQ  not  unfrequently  in  the  Targums,  see 
Buxtorf,  Lex.  Chald.,  and  Levy,  Chald.  Wörterh.  s.v.  A  lyifA6(rioi/  or  koivov 
TTxvloxiov  occurs  in  two  inscriptions  in  the  Haurau,  Le  Bas  et  Waddington, 
vol.  iii.  n.  2462,  2463.  The  word  also  occurs,  as  is  well  known,  in  the  N.  T. 
(Luke  X.  34).  See  Wetstein,  Nov.  Test,  on  Lukex.  34;  Hermann  and  Bliim- 
ner,  Lehrh.  der  griechischen  Privatalterthümer.,  p.  499  sqq.,  and  the  Lexicons. 

137  Comp.  Winer,  RWB.,  article  "Baukunst."  Rüetschi  in  Herzog's 
Real-EncycL,  2nd  ed.  ii.  132  sqq.  De  Saulcy,  Histoire  de  Vart  judaique, 
Paris  1858.  Conder,  Notes  on  Architecture  in  Palestine  {Quarterly  Statement, 
1878,  pp.  29-40).  Almost  all  the  ruins  that  remain  belong  to  the  non- 
Jewish  towns  of  Palestine. 

138  See  especially  the  summary  of  the  buildings  of  Herod,  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  21.  11.  On  Gaza,  comp.  Stark,  598  sqq.  On  Berytus,  the  buildings  of 
the  two  Agrippas,  Antt.  xix.  7.  5,  xx.  9.  4.  On  the  public  buildings,  which 
were  everywhere  customary  in  Greek  towns,  see  Hermann  and  Bliimnor, 
Lehrh.  der  griechischen  Privatalterthümer  (1882),  p.  132  sqq. 

^39  See  the  description  Bell.  Jud.  v.  4.  4. 

no  J1•^J3^;J{  (arx^tov),  Baha  kamma  iv.  4 ;  Ahoda  sara  i.  7 

1*1  '>p^">D3  {ßxdi'hiK'/i),  Ahoda  sara  i.  7  ;  Tohoroth  vi.  8. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL,        35 

porticoes/^-  porches/^^  Tribunes/'**  banqueting  -  halls  ^*^  and 
other  buildings  after  the  Graeco-Eoman  manner.  Even  in  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem  the  Grecian  style  of  architecture  was 
copiously  adopted.  It  is  true  that  in  the  temple  proper  (the 
vaö'i)  Herod  could  not  venture  to  forsake  the  old  traditional 
forms.  But  in  the  building  of  the  inner  fore-court  we  see  the 
influence  of  Greek  models.  Its  gates  had  fore-courts  (i^e8pai) 
within,  between  which  colonnades  {arroai)  ran  along  the 
inside  of  the  walls.^*^  The  gate  at  the  eastern  side  of  the 
outer  court  had  folding  doors  of  Corinthian  brass,  which  were 
more  costly  than  those  covered  with  gold  and  silver.^*"  Quite 
in  the  Grecian  style  were  the  colonnades  {<noai),  which 
surrounded  the  outer  court  on  all  four  sides.  Most  of  them 
were  double  {hiTrkal)}-^^  but  the  most  magnificent  were  those 
found  on  the  south  side.  They  were  in  the  form  of  a 
basilikon  (/3ao-/\eto9  arod) ;  four  rows  of  large  Corinthian 
columns,  together  162  in  number,  formed  a  three-aisled  hall, 
the  middle  aisle  of  which  was  broader  by  a  half  than  the 
two  side  aisles  and  as  high  again.  ^^^  All  this  does  not  indeed 
prove,  that  the  Grecian  was  the  prevailing  style  for  ordinary 
private  houses,  nor  may  this  be  assumed.     Occasionally  we 

^■•^  X3D^*''X  (ffTo«),  Shekaliin  viii.  4;  Sukka  iv.  4;  Ohalolh  xviii.  9; 
Tohoroth  vi.  10. 

^^®  imoax  (s|^5,5«),  Moascrotk  iii.  6 ;  Eruhia  viii.  4  ;  Sola  viii.  3 ; 
Tumid  i.  3  ;  Middoth  i.  5  ;  Ohaloth  vi.  2.  The  k^eopx  is  ao  open  fore-court 
in  front  of  the  house  door.     See  especially  Ohaloth  vi.  2. 

"*  nO"'3  (ßii,ux),  Sota  vii.  8 ;  Alwla  sum  i.  7. 

^*^  P^Jp^ia  (rpiK-htvos),  Erubiii  vi.  6;  Baba  bathra  vi.  4;  Aboth  iv.  16; 
Middoth  i.  6. 

14*  The  iiihpm  are  mentioned  by  this  name  in  the  Mishna  also  {Tamid 
l  3  ;  Middoth  i.  5).  Comp.  BeU.  Jud.  v.  5.  3  ;  also  v.  1.  bfin.,  vi.  2.  7,  4.  1 ; 
Antt.  XX.  8.  11.  On  the  aroxt  of  the  inner  court,  see  Bell.  Jiid.  v.  .5.  2  /in., 
vi.  5.  2  (whore  they  are  decidedly  distinguished  from  those  of  the  outer). 

1*^  Bell.  ,/ud.  v.  5.  3,  init.  Comp,  also  on  this  gate,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  3, 
vi.  5.  3.  It  was  probably  identical  with  the  dvpx  üpxix  mentioned  Acts 
iii.  2. 

"8  Bell.  Jud.  V.  5.  2,  init. ;  comp.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  3,  and  also  Philo,  De 
monarchia,  lib.  ii.  §  2.  The  aroxt  are  also  mentioned  in  the  Mishna  under 
this  Greek  designation  {Shekaliin  viii.  4  ;  S"kka  iv.  4). 

"»  Aiitl.  XV.  11.  5. 


36  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

see  also  that  Phoenician  and  Egyptian  architecture  was  also 
found  in  Palestine.^^° 

Plastic  art  could,  by  reason  of  the  Jewish  repudiation  of  all 
images  of  men  and  beasts,  find  no  entrance  into  Palestine  ;  and 
it  was  only  in  isolated  cases,  as  e.g.  when  Herod  the  Great  had 
a  golden  eagle  brought  into  the  temple,  or  Herod  Antipas  placed 
images  of  animals  on  his  palace  at  Tiberias,  that  the  Herodians 
allowed  themselves  to  defy  Jewish  views.-^^^  Grecian  music  was 
undoubtedly  represented  at  the  feasts  at  Jerusalem  and  else- 
where.^''^ The  musical  instruments  of  the  Greeks,  Kidapc^, 
•^akrr^pLov  and  avfi^aivia,  are,  as  is  well  known,  mentioned  in 
the  Book  of  Daniel  and  also  in  the  Mishna.^^^  Of  games  of 
amusement  dice,  N^nip  (Kvßela),  were,  as  the  name  shows,  intro- 
duced into  Palestine  by  the  Greeks.  They  also  were  repudiated 
by  the  stricter  Jews.^^*     In  the  matter  of  wi^iting  the  influence 

150  Tyrian  courts  to  houses  are  mentioned  Alaaserotli  iii.  5  ;  Tyrian  and 
Egyptian  windows,  Baha  hathra  iii.  6.  The  Tyrian  houses  were  particu- 
larly large  and  elegant,  see  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  757,  init. ;  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii. 
18.  9. 

isi  The  eagle  in  the  temple,  Antt.  xvii.  6.  2 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  33.  2.  The 
representations  of  animals  on  the  palace  at  Tiberias,  Joseph.  Fita,  12.  Repre- 
sentations of  animals  are  also  found  upon  the  remarkable  ruins  of  Aräk  el- 
Emir,  north-west  of  Heshbon,  which  are  evidently  identical  with  the  castle  of 
Tyrus  mentioned  by  Josephus  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Heshbon,  the  build- 
ing of  which  he  ascribes  to  one  Hyrcanus  of  the  time  of  Seleucus  IV. 
{Antt.  xii.  4. 11).  It  is  however  questionable,  whether  the  castle  with  its 
rude  figures  of  animals  is  not  older  than  Josephus  supposes,  viz.  of  pre- 
Hellenistic  origin;  see  De  Vogue,  Le  Temple  de  Jerusalem  (1864),  pp.  37-42, 
pi.  xxxiv.,  XXXV.  Tuch,  Report  of  the  Saxon  Gesellsch.  derWissensch.  pMlol.-Mst. 
CI  (1865),  pp.  18-36.  De  Saulcy,  Voyage  en  Terre  Sainte  (1865),  i.  211  sqq. 
The  same  in  the  Memoires  de  VAcademie  des  Inscr.  et  Belles  Lettres,  vol. 
xxvi.  1  (1867),  pp.  83-117  with  pi.  viii.  Due  de  Luynes,  Voyage  d''explora- 
tion  a  la  mer  morte,  etc.,  pi.  30-33.    Badeker,  Palästina  (1875),  pp.  320-822. 

^^2  Herod  offered  prizes  ro7;  Iv  rri  fx-ovamyi  ^ixyivo/^suoig  x-ot-l  öv^i'Ktx.ois 
xxAovf^si/oi;  .  .  .  x.xt  ZiiaTTOvaoKJTO  -prxur»;  rov;  iTriuYiiiOTXTOv;  ihöuv  tTcl 
TViu  öiuiXhxu  {Antt.  XV.  8.  1). 

15^  Dan.  iii.  3,  5,  10,  15.  On  the  several  instruments,  see  especially 
the  article  in  Gesenius'  Thesaurus.  N^J1S?0D,  also  Kelim  xi.  6,  xvi.  8.  On 
music  in  general  among  the  Jews,  Winer,  RWB.  ii.  120-125.  Leyrer  in 
Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  2nd  ed.  x.  387-398.  Low,  Die  Lebensalier  in  der 
jüdischen  Literatur,  p.  300  sqq. 

^^*  N'21p,  Shabhath  xxiii.  2 ;  Rosh  hasliana  i.  8 ;  Sanhedrin  iii.  3  ;  Shebuoth 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENERAL.        3? 

of  the  Greek  and  Eomau  periods  is  shown  in  the  words  used 
for  pen,  Oübp,  {KaXafio<;),  and  writer,  '62'?  (librarius)}^^ 

But  it  was  in  the  department  of  trade,  of  industry,  and  all 
connected  therewith,  and  in  that  of  the  necessaries  of  daily 
life,  that  the  influence  of  Hellenism  made  itself  the  most 
forcibly  noticeable.  By  their  ancient  commerce  with  the 
Phoenicians  the  coast  lands  of  the  Mediterranean  had  already 
entered  into  active  intercourse  with  each  other.^^'^  While, 
however,  in  ancient  times  the  Phoenicians  had  the  preponder- 
ance as  givers,  the  Orientals  now  more  occupied  the  position 
of  receivers.  At  least  it  was  the  Graeco-Ptoman  element  which 
was  now  the  intermediary  and  influential  factor  in  the  general 
commerce  of  the  world.  This  is  plainly  shown  in  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  Judaeo-Palestine.^^^     Already  are  the  tech- 

vii.  4.  See  in  general  Low,  Die  Lehensalter,  p.  32.3  sqq.  Hermann  and 
Blümner,  G riech.  Privatalterthümer,  p.  511  sqq.  Marquardt,  Dax  Pricatlehen 
der  Bömer,  ii.  824  sqq. 

^^^  0'\übp,  Shabbath  i.  3,  viii.  5.    '-fpzh,  -^c«  ü-  *J ;  Shahbath  i.  3 ;  Gitiiri  iii.  1. 

^*^  On  the  commerce  of  the  Phoenicians,  see  especially  the  classic  work  of 
Movers  {Die  Phönicier),  the  last  part  of  which  (ii.  3,  1856)  is  entirely  devoted 
to  this  subject.  On  the  influence  thereby  exerted  upon  AVestern  by  Eastern 
culture,  see  the  literature  in  Hermann  and  Blümner,  Griechische  Privatalter- 
thümer (1882),  p.  41  sq.,  and  in  Marquardt,  PJas  Privatleben  der  Römer, 
vol.  ii.  (1882),  p.  378  sq. 

^*7  On  Jewish  commerce,  see  especially  Herzfeld,  Handehgeschichte  der 
Juden  des  AUerthums  (1879);  and  for  a  short  account,  Winer,  RWB.  L 
458  sqq.  Leyrer  in  Herzogs  Real-Euc,  2nd  ed.  v.  578  sqq.,  xiii.  513  sqq. 
(art.  "  Schiffahrt  ").  De  Wette,  Lchrb.  der  hehr.-jüd.  Archäologie  (Rübiger, 
4th  ed.),  p.  390  sqq.  Keil,  Handh.  der  hibl.  Archäol.  (2nd  ed.  1875)  p.  599  sqq. 
Hamburger,  Real- Encyclopüdie  für  Bibel  und  Talmud.,  Div.  ii.  art.  '•  Welthan- 
del." For  an  acquaintance  with  Oriental  commerce  in  general,  in  the  first 
Century  after  Christ,  one  of  the  most  important  and  interesting  authorities  is 
the  TLipi-'Kovs  T^;  ipv6p»g  du.'hä.aarti  (probably  composed  by  a  contemporary  of 
Pliny  about  70-75  after  Christ).  Comp,  on  the  Periplus,  especially  Schwan- 
beck, Rhein.  Museum,  new  series,  vol.  vii.  1850,  pp.  321-369,  481-511. 
Dillmann,  Monthly  Report  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  1879,  pp.  413-427.  Jurien 
de  la  Graviere,  Le  commerce  de  VOrient  sous  les  regnes  d^Auguste  et  de 
Claude  (Revue  des  deux  morides,  1883,  Nov.  15,  pp.  312-355).  The  text  is 
given  in  Müllers  Geographi  Graeci  minores,  vol.  i.  1855,  pp.  257-305  (see  also 
the  Proleg.,  p.  xcv.  sqq.).  The  separate  publication,  Fabricius,  I'hc  Peri- 
plus of  the  Red  Sea,  by  an  unknown  traveller,  in  Greek  and  German,  with 
critical  and  explanatory  notes,  and  a  com[)lete  glossary  of  words.  Leipzig 
1883  (in  this  work  is  given,  pp.  1-27,  the  rest  of  the  literature). 


38  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

nical  designations  of  the  commercial  class  partly  Greek.  A 
coru-dealer  is  called  }1D^D  {(titcovtjs:),  a  sole  dealer,  ^ISJD  {jxovo- 
•jrco\7)<;),  a  retail  dealer,  itDi^S  (irpaTrip),^'^^  a  merchaut's  account- 
book  is  called  Dp:3  {ttlvu^)}^'-'  The  whole  coinage  system  of 
Palestine  was  partly  the  Phoenician-Hellenistic,  partly  the 
entirely  Greek  or  lloman.^*^^  Eeckonings  were  made  in  Pales- 
tine in  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  by  drachmas  and  talents.^*"^ 
During  the  period  of  indej)endence  the  Asmonean  princes 
certainly  issued  money  of  their  own,  coined  according  to  a 
native  (Phoenician)  standard,  and  with  Hebrew  inscriptions. 
But  the  later  Asmoneans  already  added  Greek  inscriptions 
also.  Of  the  Herodians  only  coins  of  Eoman  values  with 
Greek  inscriptions  are  known.  In  the  period  of  Eoman 
supremacy  the  Eoman  system  of  coins  was  fully  carried  out,  nay 
even  the  Eoman  names  of  coins  were  then  more  current  than 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  ones,  which  were  used  simultaneously. 
This  is  seen  by  the  following  comparison  of  the  material 
afforded  by  the  Mishna  and  the  New  Testament.^*^^  (1)  The 
Palestinian  gold  coin  is  the  Eoman  aureus  of  25  denarii,  often 

iJS  pfi^^D,  Demui  ii.  4,  v.  6  ;  Baha  haihra  v.  10;  Kclhn  xii.  1;  ^1330, 
Demai  v.  4 ;  Aboda  sara  iv.  9  ;  on  anuv/ii  and  fiovoTrüT^m,  see  also  Heiz- 
feld,  p.  135  sq.  "iti7D  is  in  some  places  =  Tr^jAj^Tsjixoy,  the  place  of  sale; 
and  Herzfeld  (pp.  181,  132)  insists  on  so  understanding  it  in  the  two 
passages  quoted ;  but  it  is  more  probably  =  ^/jät'/j/s  (so  Hartmann,  This, 
ling.  Hebr.  e  Mischna  aug.  p.  45). 

^^''  DpJD)  Shabbaih  xii.  4 ;  Shebiioth  vii.  1.  5 ;  Abotli  ill.  16 ;  Ktlim 
xvii.  17,  xxiv.  7.  This  account-book  consisted  of  two  tablets  bound  together, 
which  could  be  opened  and  closed. 

1®"  On  the  Jewish  coinage  of  earlier  and  later  times,  see  Bertheau,  Zur 
Geschichte  der  Israeliten  (1842),  pp.  1-49.  Zuckermann,  Ueber  ialmudische 
Gewichte  und  Münzen,  1862.  Herzfeld,  Metrologische  Voruntersuchungen  zu 
einer  Geschichte  des  ibräischen  resp.  (dtjüdischen  Handels,  2  parts,  1863-1865. 
The  same,  Handelsgeschichte  der  Juden  (1879),  pp.  171-185.  Winer,  RWB. 
art,  "Gold;"  also  the  articles  Denar,  Drachme,  Stater,  Sekel.  De  Wette, 
Lehrh.  der  hebr. -jüdischen  Archäol.  (4th  ed.  1864)  p.  251  sqq.  The  works  of 
De  Saulcy,  Madden,  and  others  on  Jewish  coins ;  see  above,  §  2.  Hultsch, 
Griechische  und  römische  Metrologie  (1882),  pp.  456  sqq.,  602  sqq. 

^''^  Drachmas,  2  Macc.  iv.  19,  x.  20,  xii.  43.  Talents,  1  Macc.  xi.  28, 
xiii.  16,  19,  XV.  31,  35 ;  2  Macc.  iii.  11,  iv.  8,  24,  v.  21,  viii.  10  sq.  What 
standard  is  to  be  assumed  in  this  case  must  here  be  left  uncertain. 

^^-  On  the  coins   named  in  the  New  Testament,  see  Madden,  History 


§  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUItE  IX  GENERAL.  39 

mentioned  in  the  Mishna  under  the  name  of  the  "  gold  denarius  " 
(an?  njn).^^^  (2)  The  current  silver  coin  was  the  denarius 
{Zrjvdpcov),  which  is  the  most  frequently  named  of  all  coins  in 
the  New  Testament  (Matt,  xviii.  28,  xx.  2  sqq.,  xxii.  19  ;  Mark 
vi.  37,  xii.  15,  xiv.  5  ;  Luke  vii.  41,  x.  35,  xx.  24 ;  John  vi.  7, 
xii.  5  ;  liev.  vi.  6).  That  this  Latin  designation  is  familiar 
to  the  Mishna  is  very  evident,  for  it  is  here  almost  more 
frequently  mentioned  by  the  expression  "i3n  than  by  its 
Semitic  equivalent  r^T.^*^^  The  denarius  being  esteemed  equal 
in  value  to  an  Attic  drachma,  calculations  were  still  made  by 
drachmas.  Still  this  mode  of  computation  was  no  longer 
frequent.^^^  (3)  Of  copper  coins,  the  two  as  piece,  or  dupon- 
dius  (Hebr.  p^JiD),  is  chiefly  meutioued.^*^'^  Such  a  dupondius 
is  also  meant  in  the  saying  of  Christ,  Luke  xii.  6,  where  the 
Vulgate  rightly  translates  acrcrapiwv  hvo  ])y  dijjondio.  (4)  The 
most  common  copper  coin  was  the  as,  Greek  äaaäpiov  (Matt. 
X.  29  ;  Luke  xii.  6),  Hebr.  ids,  sometimes  expressly  designated 

of  Jewish  Coinage  (18G4),  pp.  232-248  ;  Winer  and  De  "Wette's  above- 
mentioned  works.  On  the  Roman  coinage,  comp,  especially  the  excellent 
summary  in  Marquardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  vol.  ii.  (1876),  pp.  3-75. 
The  two  chief  modern  works  are  Mommsen,  Gesch.  des  römischen  Münz- 
wesens, 1860,  and  Ilultsch,  Griechische  mid  römische  Metrologie,  1882. 

^"^  an?  "in,  Maaser  sheni  ii.  7,  iv.  9  ;  Shekalim  vi.  G  ;  Nasir  v.  2  ; 
ßaha  kamma  iv.  1  ;  Shehuoth  vi.  3  ;  Meila  vi.  4.  On  the  Roman  aureus 
(called  also  denarius  aureus),  see  Marquardt,  ii.  25  sq.  ;  Hultscli,  y>.  308  sqq. 
That  the  2nT  "in  was  equal  to  25  denarii  appears,  e.g.,  from  Keihuboth  x.  4  ; 
Baha  kamma  iv.  1. 

i<^i  "ijn,  e.g.  Pea  viii.  8  ;  Demai  ii.  5 ;  Maaser  sheni  ii.  9  ;  Shekalim 
ii.  4 ;  Beza  iii.  7 ;  Kcthuhoth  v.  7,  vi.  3,  4,  x.  2 ;  Kiddushin  i.  1,  ii.  2 ; 
Baha  mezia  iv.  5 ;  Arachin  vi.  2,  5,  and  elsewhere.  T^t,  -^«a  viii.  8,  9  ; 
Jama  iii.  7 ;  Kethuboth  i.  5,  vi.  5,  ix.  8 ;  Gittin  vii  5 ;  Kiddushin  iii.  2 ; 
Baba  kamma  iv.  1,  viii.  6 ;  Balia  bathra  x.  2. 

^'^'^  lpuxfi>i,  Luke  XV.  8  sq. ;  Joseph.  Vita,  44.  In  both  pa3.sages,  however, 
drachmae  of  Tyrian  value  may  be  intended  ;  comp,  below,  note  172. 

ICC  pi-ij-12,  Pea  viii.  7  ;  Shehiith  viii.  4  ;  Maaser  sheni  iv.  8 ;  Erubin 
viii.  2 ;  Baha  mczia  iv.  5 ;  BaJiu  bathra  v.  9  ;  Shebuoth  vi.  3  ;  Kelim 
xvii.  12  (in  the  last  expressly  named  as  the  Italian  pondion  (''pi5t2"'K  |V*1J12). 
From  Baba  bathra  v.  9,  it  is  evident  that  &  lyondion  ^tv^o  asses,  as  is  also 
expressly  noticed  in  the  Talmud  {jer.  Kiddushin  58*^ ;  lab.  Kiddushin  12a ; 
Lightfoot,  Ilorae  hebr.  on  Matt.  v.  26,  0pp.  ii.  288  sq.).  The  pondion  i3 
therefore  without  doubt  the  Roman  diipoudiu.'<,  as  Guisius  on  Pea  viiL  7 
(in  Surenhusius'  Mishna  L  7)  has  remarked. 


40  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUKE  IN  GENERAL. 

as  the  Italian  as,  "'p^t2"'N  "IDS'.^*'^  It  amounted  originally  to  one- 
tenth,  but  after  the  second  Punic  war  (b.c.  217),  to  only 
one-sixteenth  of  a  denarius. ■^^^  (5)  The  smallest  copper  coin 
was  the  nciiD,  amounting  to  only  the  eighth  of  an  as}^^  It 
was  unknown  to  the  Eoman  system  of  coinage,  its  name  too  is 
Semitic.  The  Xeirrov  however  which  occurs  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment (Mark  xii,  42  ;  Luke  xii.  59,  xxi.  2),  and  is,  according 
to  Mark  xii.  42,  the  half  of  a  quadrans,  is  identical  with  it. 
Coins  of  this  size  are  in  fact  found  in  the  period  of  the  later 
Asmoneans  and  single  ones  in  the  Herodian-Komish  period.^'** 
It  is  however  striking,  that  both  in  the  Mishna  and  the  New 
Testament  reckonings  are  made  by  this  smallest  portion  of  the 
as,  and  not  by  the  semis  (half  as)  and  quadrans  (quarter  as), 
while  the  latter  were  then  coined  in  Palestine  also,  and  indeed 
more  frequently  than  the  Xeinov}^^  The  mode  of  reckoning 
seems,  according  to  the  latter,  to  have  come  down  from  pre- 
Eoman  times,  but  to  have  remained  in  use  even  after  the 
introduction  of  the  Eoman  valuation.  The  coins  issued  in 
the  Phoenician  towns,  especially  in  Tyre,  which  were  in  cir- 
culation in  Palestine  even  when  no  more  were  made  according 
to  this  standard,  differed  in  value  from  the  Eoman  coins.^'^ 

^^''  ''p^D^X  IDS,  KiddusMn  i.  1  ;  Edtijotk  iv.  7  ;  Chidlln  iii.  2  ;  Mik- 
waolh  ix.  5.  On  -|DS  in  general,  e.g.  Pea  viii.  1  ;  Shebiith  viii.  4  ;  Maase- 
roth  ii.  5,  6  ;  Maaser  sheni  iv.  3,  8 ;  Erubin  vii.  10 ;  Baha  mezia  iv.  5 ; 
Baha  hathra  v.  9. 

168  Marquardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  ii.  16. 

169  nD1"l3>  Kiddushin  i,  1,  ii.  1,  6;  Baha  kamma  ix.  5,  6,  7 ;  Baha  mezia 
iv.  78 ;  Shebuoth  vi.  1,  3  ;  Edujoih  iv.  7.  That  it  amounted  to  the  eighth 
of  the  as  is  said  Kiddushin  i.  1  ;  Edujoth  iv.  7. 

1'"  See  Mailden,  History  of  Jewish  Coinage,  p.  301. 

^''1  See  Madden,  as  above.  The  seinis  and  quadrans  are  not  to  my  knoAv- 
ledge  mentioned  in  the  Mishna,  but  first  occur  in  the  Jerusalemite  and 
Babylonian  Talmud.  In  the  New  Testament  indeed  the  quadrans  (xoS- 
potvT/is)  is  twice  mentioned.  But  in  one  passage  (Mark  xii.  42)  the  words 
0  iariu  KoapxvTni  are  only  an  explanation  on  the  part  of  the  evangelist ;  in 
the  other  (Matt.  v.  26)  the  expression  xoBsä^t«?  was  probably  inserted  by 
the  evangelist  in  place  of  "hiTnöu  offered  by  his  authority,  and  preserved  by 
St.  Luke  (xii.  59).  The  authorities  therefore  of  our  Gospels  mention  only 
the  XfXToV,  as  the  Mishna  mentions  only  the  noilS. 

1^2  The  coins  of  Plioenician  valuation  were  somewhat  lighter  than  the 


§  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUltE  IN  GENEKAL.  41 

That  which  applies  to  money,  the  medium  of  commerce, 
applies  also  to  its  objects.  Here  too  we  everywhere  come  upon 
the  track  of  Greek  and  Eoman  names  and  matters.^ ''^  At  the 
same  time  we  must  not  overlook  the  fact,  that  Palestine  with 
her  abundance  of  natural  products  made  on  her  part  large 
contributions  to  the  commerce  of  the  world;  the  produce  of 
her  soil  and  her  industrial  commodities  went  into  all  lands 
and   were  some  of  them    world-famed.^^*     But   whether   the 

Rüman  ;  see  Hultsch,  Griech.  und  rum.  Metrologie,  p.  594  sqq.  A  uö^nri/.» 
Tvpiou,  of  the  value  of  4  drachmae,  is  mentioned  by  Joseplius,  Bell.  Jnd.  ii.  21. 
2 ;  comp.  Vita,  13,  s.  fin.  The  liopxxi^ov  (Matt.  xvii.  24)  and  the  arxryip 
(=4  drachmae.  Matt.  xvii.  27)  are  coins  of  this  valuation:  for  the  temple 
tribute,  as  well  as  those  generally  prescribed  in  the  A.  T.,  were  dis- 
charged according  to  Tyrian  valuation  (Mishna  Bechoroth  viii.  7  ;  Tose/ta 
Kethuhoth  xii.  fin.),  because  this  corresponded  to  the  Hebrew ;  comp. 
Hultsch,  pp.  604  sq.,  471.  When  Josephus  states  the  value  of  the  v6f<.iaf<,x 
Tvpiov  to  have  been  4  Attic  drachmae,  this  is  but  an  approximate  valuation, 
for  the  Tyrian  tetradrachmon  was  somewhat  lighter  than  the  Attic  (Hultsch, 
595  sq.). 

^^2  On  the  commercial  commodities  of  antiquity,  see  especially  Marquardt, 
Das  Privatlehen  der  Römer,  vol.  ii.,  Leipzig  1882  (2nd  ed.  of  the  römischen 
Privatcdterth'umer,  vol.  ii.).  Karl  Friedr.  Hermann  and  II.  Blümner,  Lehrh. 
der  griechischen  Privatalterlhümer,  Freiburg  1882.  Biichsenschütz,  Die 
Hauptstätten  des  Geiverhßeisses  im  klassischen  Alterthuma,  Leipzig  1869. 
Ou  the  products  of  Egypt  in  particular,  Lumbroso,  llecherches  sur 
Veconomie  politique  de  I'Egypte  sous  les  Lagides,  Turin  1870.  On  the  arts  of 
the  Restoration,  Blümner,  Technologie  und  Terminologie  der  Gewerbe  und 
Künste  hei  Griechen  und  Römern,  vols,  i.-iii.,  Leipzig  1875-1884.  The 
Edictam  Diocletiani  de  jiretiis  rerum  (1st  ed.)  given — (1)  by  Mommsen  in  the 
reports  of  the  Saxon  Scientific  Sociel)/,  phil.-hi.^t.  CI.  vol.  iii.  1851,  pp. 
1-80,  with  Appendix,  pp.  383-400  ;  (2)  by  AYaddingtou  in  Le  Bas  et  Wad- 
dington,  Inscr.  vol.  iii.,  Explications,  pp.  145-191;  (3)  by  Mommsen  in 
Corp.  Inscr.  Lat.  vol.  iii.  2,  pp.  801-841,  is  a  copious  source  of  informa- 
tion concerning  goods.     I  quote  from  Waddington's  edition. 

^^*  On  the  commercial  commodities  of  Palestine,  see  Movers,  Die 
Phönicier,  ii.  3  (1856),  pp.  200-235;  Herzfekl,  llamlebgesch.  der  Juden,  ])p. 
88-117;  Blümner,  Die  gewerhliche  'Ihiitigkeit,  etc.,  pp.  24-27.  A  survey  of 
the  chief  commodities  in  the  fourth  century  after  Christ  is  given  in  the 
Totius  07'his  descriptio  in  Midler,  Gcograjdii  gr.  minores,  ii.  513  sqq.  c.  29  • 
Ascalon  et  G<aza  in  negotiis  eminentes  et  abundantes  omnibus  bonis  mittunt 
omni  regioni  Syriae  et  Aegypti  vinum  optimum  ...  c.  31:  Quoniam  ergo 
ex  parte  supra  dictas  descripsimus  civitates,  necessarium  mihi  videtur,  ut 
etiam  quidnam  unaquaeque  civitas  proprium  habeat  exponamus,  ut  qui 
legit,  certain  eorum  seien tiam  habere  possit.  Scythopolis  igitur,  Laodicia, 
Byblus,  Tyrus,  Berytus  omni  mundo  linteamen  emittunt ;   Sarepta  vero, 


42        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUKE  IN  GENERAL. 

commodities  were  produced  in  the  land  or  introduced  from 
abroad,  they  equally  bore  in  large  proportion  the  impress  of 
the  prevalent  Hellenistic  culture ;  the  produce  of  the  interior 
was  regulated  by  its  requirements,  while  just  the  objects 
which  were  the  fashion  in  all  the  world  were  those  which 
were  imported  into  Palestine.^"^ 

A  series  of  examples  from  the  three  departments  of  (1) 
provisions  (2),  clothing  and  (3)  furniture  may  serve  as  a 
further  illustration.  Of  foreign  provisions,  e.g.,  there  were 
known  in  Palestine  Babylonian  sauce  (nn«),  Median  beer 
(13?^),  Edomite  vinegar  (K^in)  and  Egyptian  zythos  (Dinn)."* 
Also   other    Egyptian   products,   viz.    fish,"^  mustard,    kürbis, 

Caesarea,  Neapolis  et  Lydda  pui-puram  praestant ;  omnes  auteni  fructiferae 
vino,  oleo  et  frumento  ;  Nicolaum  vero  palmiilam  invenies  abuiidare  in 
Palaestina  regione,  in  loco  qui  dicitur  Hiericho,  similiter  et  Damasci  minores 
palmulas,  sed  utiles,  et  pistacium  et  omne  genus  pomorum.  Especially 
famous  was  the  linen  manufacture  of  Scythopolis.  In  the  Edictum  Dioci. 
c.  xvii.-xviii.,  the  linen  goods  of  Scythopolis  stand  first  as  the  most  expen- 
sive. See  also  Jer.  Kiddushui  ii.  5:  ]a^  n"'3D  fXnn  D^^H  jn^i'S  ''^3, 
Movers,  ii.  3,  217  sq.  Herzfeld,  p.  107.  ^larquardt,  Das  Privatleben  der 
Römer,  ii.  466.  Büchsenschütz,  p.  61.  Blümner,  Die  gewcrhl.  Thütigkeit, 
p.  25.  The  Mishna  too  assumes,  that  Galilee  carried  on  chiefly  the  manu- 
facture of  linen,  and  Judea  on  the  contrary  that  of  woollen  goods  {Baha 
kamma  x.  9).     Hence  there  was  a  wool-market  at  Jerusalem. 

'^''^  On  imported  articles,  see  also  Herzfeld,  Handelsgeschichte,  pp.  117-129. 

176  AU  four  are  mentioned,  Pesachini  in.  1,  as  examples  of  provisions, 
which  are  prepared  from  kinds  of  grain  and  have  gone  through  a  process  of 
fermentation.  On  the  Egyptian  i^äog  (a  kind  of  beer,  Hebr.  Dinn,  not 
Din'':,  see  Levy,  Nenheh:  Wörterbuch,  s.v.),  comp.  Thcophrast.  de  caus. 
plant,  vi.  11.  2.  Diodor.  i,  34.  Plinius,  xxii.  164.  Strabo,  xvii.  p.  824. 
Digest,  xxxiii.  6,  9.  Edict.  Diucletiani,  ii.  12.  Buxtorf,  Lex.  Chald.  s.v. 
"Waddington'ß  explanations  to  the  Edict.  Diocl.  p.  154.  Pauly's  Encykl. 
s.v.  cerevisia.  Marquardt,  Privatleben  der  Römer,  ii.  444.  Hermann  and 
Blümner,  Griech.  Privatleben,  p.  235.  Hehn,  Kidtnrpflanzen  und  Hausthiere 
(3rd  ed.  1877),  p.  136  sq.  Schleusner's  Lexicon  in  LXX.  s.v.  and  the 
Lexicons  generally.  It  also  occurs  in  the  Greek  translations  of  the  Old 
Testament  Isa.  xix.  10. 

1'^  Machshirin  vi.  3.  Pickled  fish  {rccpt'-^rt),  which  are  produced  in 
large  quantities  in  different  places  in  Egypt,  and  formed  a  considerable 
article  of  exportation,  are  intended  (Blümner,  Die  gewerbl.  Thätigkeit,  etc., 
pp.  14,  17.  Lumbroso,  Recherchcs,  p.  133.  The  expositors  of  Num.  xi.  5). 
A  large  number  of  places  on  the  Egyptian  coast  had  the  name  of  Tuoixicn 
from  this  branch  of  industry  (Steph.  Byz.  s.v.).  See,  concerning  its  wide 
diffusion,  Marquardt,  Privativen  der  Römer,  ii.  420  sqq.,  and  the  chief 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL.        43 

beans,  lentils.^'*  Likewise  Ciliciau  groats/^'*  ]]ithynian  cheese,^*" 
Greek  pumpkins/^^  Greek  and  Eoman  hyssop/--  and  Spanish 
kolias.^^^  From  abroad  came  also,  as  their  foreign  names 
show,  e.g.  asparagus,  lupines  and  Persian  nuts.^^'*  Very 
widely  diffused  in  Palestine  was  the  custom  of  salting  fish  or 
pickling  them  in  brine,  as  the  name  of  the  town  Tapf^^eac  on 
the  Lake  of  Gennesareth  and  the  frequent  mention  of  brine 
{mimes)  in  the  Mishna  prove.^*'^  The  foreign  origin  of  this 
custom  also  is  evident  from  its  foreign  name. 

Of  materials  for  dress  and  garments  of  foreign  origin  the  follow- 
ing are  mentioned:  Pelusian  and  Indian  linen  and  cotton  fabrics,^^ 

work  there  cited,  viz.   Köhler,   T»pr^o;  ou  recherclics  sur  I'ldstoire  et  Ics 
antiquites  des  peclieries  de  la  linssie  meridionale  (^Memoires  de  V Academic 
imp.  des  sciences  de  St.  Pctnshom-g.,  vi.  Serie,  vol.  i.  1832,  pp.  ,"47-490). 
^'^  Mustard  (t5"mn),  Kilajim  i.  2.     Pumpkins    (nj/^'q),  Kilajim  i.   2,  5. 

Beans  (713),  Kilajim  i.  2,  ii.  11,  iii.  4;  Shchiith  ii.  8,  9;  Shahhatli  ix.  7; 
Nedarim  vii.   1,   2.     Lentils  (□''t^'ty),    Maascroth    v.    8 ;    Kdim    xvii.   8. 

Egyptian  lentils  were  known  also  in  Kome,  see  Pliuius,  xvi.  201 ;  Marquai-dt, 
ii.  410.  Their  cultivation  in  Egypt  is  of  ancient  date,  see  Hehn,  Kultur- 
pflanzen und  Haustliiere  (3rd  ed.),  p.  188. 

^^'  '•p^'^P  Onj,  Maascroth  v.  8;  Kelim  xvii.  12;  Necjaim  vi.  1. 

180  ips>jni  nj^33,  Ahoda  sara  ii.  4  (for  thus  we  should  here  read,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  authorities,  instead  of  the  corrupt  ''P'"''J1S  D^l  Dr^j). 
Bithynian  cheese  is  also  spoken  of,  Pliuius,  xi.  241 :  trans  maria  vero 
Bithynus  fere  in  gloria  est. 

^^^  n'':i''  n]}bl,  Kilajim  \.  .0,  ü.  11  ;   0?-/rtiii.  7  ;  Ohahlh  viii.  1. 

^*-  IV  31TN  and  '»Dil  31T^<,  Ncgaim  xiv.  6 ;  Para  xi.  7.  Tlie  former  also 
Shahhatli  xiv.  3. 

^^^  pDDSn  D''"'p"lp,  Shahhatli  xxii.  2  ;  Machshiiiii  vi.  3.  The  colias  is  a 
kind  of  tunny -fish  (see  concerning  it  Plinius,  xxxii.  146  ;  Marquardt,  ii.  422 
and  the  Lexicons).  It  was  of  course  salted  for  commerce  and  was  like  the 
Spanish  Txpixog  everywhere  well  known  (Marquardt,  ii.  421  ;  Bliinnicr,  pp. 
130-135). 

^**  Asparagus  (D1J1DDX,  oLcT^xpocyoi).,  Nedarim  vi.  10.  Lupines  (DIDTlH, 
6£pf4,oi),  Shahhath  xviii.  1  ;  Machshiriii  iv.  G  ;  'Ithul  join.  i.  4.  Persian 
nuts  ('"pDiaX,  Hipatx.'i)),  Kilajim  i.  4 ;  Maascroth  i.  2.  In  both  places,  as 
the  context  shows,  not  peaches,  but  Persian  nuts  are  meant,  on  which 
comp.  ^larquardt,  ii.  411. 

^85  D^^i^^,  Terumoth  xi.  1  ;  ,/oma  viii.  3  ;  Nedarim  vi.  1  ;  Ahoda  sara  ii.  4  ; 
Kelim  x.  5. 

18«  The  garments  worn  by  the  high  priest  on  the  Day  of  Atonement 
were,  according  to  .Joma  iii.  7,  made  of  both  materials.  In  the  morning 
he  wore  the  pDI^^Q,  in  tlie  afternoon  the  pTiljn  (whether  these  were  of 


44  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUllE  IN  GENEHAL. 

Cilician  haircloth,^®^  the  saguvi  (ciio),  the  dalmatica  (p''P"'D?dW;, 
the  'paragandiun  (ni3"is),  the  stola  {r\'h\2^^)}^  the  hand- 
kerchief (pmiD,  (Tovhcipiov)}^  the  felt  hat  (;v^Q,  irikiov), 
the  felt  socks  (s^bsoN,  ifiTriXia),  the  sandals  (biJD),  of  which 
the  Laodicean  ("»pn^  hi:D)  are  mentioned  as  a  special  kind.'^^ 

linen  or  cotton  is  not  shown  by  these  designations).  The  fine  linen 
of  Pclusium  was  famous;  see  Plinius,  xix.  1.  14:  Aegyptio  lino  minimum 
firmitatis,  plurimum  lucri.  Quattuor  ibi  genera :  Taniticum  ac  Ptlusia- 
cuni,  Buticum,  Tentyriticum.  Movers,  ii.  3.  318.  Büchsenschütz,  62  sq. 
Blümner,  Die  geicertdiche  Thüti;/keit,  p.  6  sqq.,  especially  16. — Indian 
materials  (öd6i.(ov''lvlix.6v,  oSörfi^lvliKTi,  (iivö6vsi''lvöix.oii)  are  e.g.  also  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  Periplus  maris  Erytiaaei  (see  above,  note  157)  as  articles 
of  commerce  (§  6,  31,  41,  48,  63).  Probably  cotton  goods  are  to  be  under- 
stood. See  Marquardt,  ii.  472  sq.  Fabricius,  Der  Periplus  des  erythräischen 
Meeres  (1883),  p.  123,  and  Brand's  article,  "  Ueber  die  antiken  Kamen  und 
die  geographische  Verbreitung  der  Baumwolle  im  Alterthum "  (18G6), 
quoted  in  both  these  two  works. 

^^^  "'P^V'  ^'^t'lim  xxix.  1. — Ciliciuni  was  a  cloth  made  of  goat's  hair,  and 
used  for  very  various  purposes  (coarse  cloaks,  curtains,  covers,  etc.).  See 
Marquardt,  ii.  463;  Büchsenschütz,  64 ;  Blümner,  30.  If  then  St.  Paul  was 
a  uK/iuoToiog  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia  (Acts  xvin.  3),  his  calling  was  closely 
connected  with  the  chief  manufacture  of  his  native  place.  In  the  Mishna 
^ph'^p  is  called  "felt"  (Filz),  e.g.  matted  (yerßlzics)  hair  on  the  beard, 
chest,  etc.  (^Mikwaotli  ix.  2). 

188  Q-ijD,  Kdim  xxix.  1  ;  Mikiraoih  vii.  6.  |1''p^Ct3^*7,  KHaj'm  ix.  7. 
"IIJIQ,  Sliekalim  iii.  2  ;  Kelim  xxix.  1.  rivüVX,  Joma  vii.  1 ;  Giltin  vii.  5. 
For  particulars  respecting  this  piece  of  clothing,  see  Marquardt,  ii.  584  sq., 
563  sq.,  536  sq.  AVaddington,  explanations  to  the  Edict.  Dioclet.  pp.  175  sq., 
182,  174  sq.  Moramsen,  Reports  of  the  Saxon  Scientific  Society,  jdtil.-hist. 
CI.  iii.  71,  391. — The  sagum  was  a  mantle  which  left  the  arm  at  liberty,  and 
was  therefore  especially  worn  by  soldiers  and  artisans.  The  three  others  are 
different  kinds  of  underclothing  (hence  in  the  Armenian  translation  of  the 
Bible  paregot  more  frequently  occurs  for  ^nüu ;  see  Lagarde,  Gesammelte 
Abhandtun  gen,  1866,  p.  209  sq.).  The  dalmatica  is  also  mentioned  in 
Epiphan.  Haer.,  when  speaking  of  the  garments  of  the  scribes. 

1S9  p-niD,  Shahbalh  iii.  3  ;  Joma  vi.  8 ;  Sanhedrin  vi.  1 ;  Tamid  vii.  3  ; 
Kelim  xxix.  1.  In  the  New  Testament,  Luke  xix.  20;  John  xi.  44,  xx.  7; 
Acts  xix.  12.  Much  matter  concerning  it  is  also  found  in  Wetstein,  Nov. 
Test,  on  Luke  xix.  20,  and  in  the  Lexicons. 

190  pi^a,  Kelim  xxix.  1 ;  Nidda  viii.  1.  X''^SIDN,  Jehamoth  xii.  1 ;  Kelim 
xxvii.  6  (comp.  Marquardt,  ii.  486  ;  Waddington,  p.  164 ;  Mommsen,  p.  71), 
^*73D,  e-g-  Shabbath  vi.  2,  5,  x.  3,  xv.  2  ;  Shekalirn  iii.  2  ;  Beza  i.  10 ; 
Mtgilla  iv.  8 ;  Jehamoth  xii.  1  ;  Arachin  vi.  5.  The  sandal-maker  was 
called  "i^njD,  Jehamoth  xii.  5  ;  Kethuboth  v.  4;  Ahoth  iv.  11  ;  KeVnn  v.  5. 
See  on  sandals  in  general,  Marquardt,  ii.  577  sq.  ;  Hermann  and  Blümner, 
Griechische  Privatalterthümer,  pp.  181,  196.     ^pnS  SliD,  Kelim  xxvi.  1. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CÜLTÜEE  IX  GENERAL.        45 

A  series  too  of  technical  expressions  in  the  department  of 
manufactured  articles  testifies  to  the  influence  of  Greek 
models.  The  spun  thread  is  called  sö^3  (vi]fj,a),  a  certain 
aiTangement  of  the  loom  DTi^p  (/catpo?)/^^  the  tanner  ^D"in 
{ßvp(76i)<i)}^  Of  raw  materials,  hemp  {e.g.  DUjp,  Kavvaßo^, 
Kuwaßa)  was  first  introduced  into  Palestine  by  the  Greeks.^"^ 
Domestic  utensils  of  foreign,  especially  of  Greek  and  Roman 
origin,  are  everywhere  plentiful.  Of  Egyptian  utensils,  a 
basket,  a  ladder,  and  a  rope  are  mentioned,^^*  also  a  Tyrian 
ladder,'®^  Sidouian  dishes  or  bowls.'^*'  Of  Greek  and  Eoman 
utensils  we  find  the  bench  (ijDDD,  suhsellium),  the  arm- 
chair (xiinp,  KudeSpa),  the  curtain  (p^^i,  velum),  the  mirror 
(X"'">Sp2DN,  specidaria),  the  Corinthian  candlestick.^^'''  For 
eating  and  drinking,  e.g.  the  plate  (N^uipDX,  scutella),  the 
bowl  ("»yQ,  <f)(,äXr]),  the  table-cloth  (nsD,  maijpd)}^^     For  cases 

Which  liaodlcea  is  meant  cannot  be  ascertained,  probably  the  Phrygian, 
which  was  famed  for  its  manufactures  {Edict.  JJiocL;  Marquardt,  ii.  460  ; 
Büchsenschütz,  p.  65  ;  Blümner,  pp.  27,  28).  The  Syrian  Laodicea  was 
chiefly  famous  for  its  linen  manufacture  (Edict.  Diocl.  xvii.-xviii. ;  Mar- 
quardt, ii.  466  ;  Büchsenschütz,  p.  61  ;  Blümner,  p.  26). 

^^'  Nö^i,  Eruhin  x.  13;  Shekalim  viii.  5;  KelimsSx.  1,  xxix.  1;  N'egaimxi. 
10.  DITp,  Shahbath  xiii.  2;  Kelim  xxi.  1.  Comp,  on  the  kxIoo^,  especially 
Blümner,  Technolofjie  und  Tcrminvloyie  der  Gewerbe  xind  Künste,  i.  126  sqq. 

^•'^  "'DIU,  Kethuboth  vii.  10.  ""pDnn  (the  tan-yard),  Shabbath  i.  2  ;  Baba 
huthra  ii.  9. 

^^^  0133  p,  Kilajim  v.  8,  ix.  1,7;  Nefjaim  xi.  2.  On  the  comparatively  late 
diffusion  of  hemp,  see  Hehn,  Kulturpflanzen  u.  Ilausthicre  (3rd  ed.),  p.  168  sq. 

!'••*  Basket  (nS'^aa),  Shabbath  xx.  2;  Sota  ii.  1,  iii.  1;  Kelim  xxvi.  1.  The 
reading  also  of  Tebuljum.  iv.  2  is  certainly  Hw'^Ba  instead  of  n2^D3.  Ladder 
(D^D),  Baba  bathra  iii.  6  ;  Sabim  iii.  1,  3,  iv.  3.     Rope  (^3n),  Sota  i.  6. 

^*^  Baba  bathra  iii.  6  ;  Sabini  iii.  3. 

*^ß  Kelim  iv.  3.  D'^DIp,  comp,  the  Biblical  nop.  Glass  vessels  are 
certainly  meant ;  for  the  making  of  glass  vessels  formed  in  Roman  times  a 
main  branch  of  Sidonian  industry.  Plinius,  //.  N.  v.  19.  76  :  Sidon  artifex 
vitri.  Hermann  and  Blüinner,  Griech.  Privatalterthiimer,  p.  437  sq. 
Marquardt,  Privatleben,  ii.  726. 

^^'  /"DSD,  Baba  bathra  iv.  6  ;  Sanhedrin  ii.  \,fin.;  Kelim  ii.  3.  xxii.  3; 
Mikwaoth  v.  2  ;  Sabim  iv.  4.  ©omp.  Marquardt,  ii.  704.  {<-nnp,  Kithuboth 
V.  5  ;  Kilim  iv.  3,  xxii.  3  ;  Marquardt,  ii.  705.  p^^i,  Kelim  xx.  6,  xxiv.  13. 
N^l^pBDX,  Kelim  xxx.  2.  Corinthian  candlesticks  in  the  possession  of 
King  Agrippa,  Joseph.  Vit<i,  13. 

»'•'S  N^3u,  Shabbath  xxi.  3  ;  Beza  i.  8 ;  Moed  katan  iii.  7  ;  Edujoth  iii.  9 


46        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  GENERAL. 

of  all  kinds  the  most  common  designation  is  |Tn,  drjKt}}^ 
Special  kinds  of  wooden  vessels  are  the  cask  or  box  (nsip, 
cnpa),  the  wine-barrel  (dd''D,  7rt^o?),^°°  the  chest  (sopDl^J, 
yXwa-aoKo/jLov),  the  small  chest  (KiDDp,  KafjuTrrpa),  the  casket 
(XDDp,  caiKci),  the  sack  (!)1i'"iD,  fjiapa-inriov).-'^^ 

The  stock  of  Greek  and  Latin  words  in  the  Mishna  is  far 
from  being  exhausted  by  the  specimens  quoted.  They  suffice 
liowever  to  give  a  vivid  impression  of  the  full  adoption  of 
Western  manners  and  customs  even  in  Palestine  in  the 
second  century  after  Christ.  The  influence  of  the  Greek 
language  reached  still  farther.  For  even  in  cases  where  the 
introduction  of  Western  productions  and  notions  is  not  treated 
of,  we  meet  with  the  use  of  Greek  words  in  the  Mishna.  The 
air  is  called  T'IK  (aT^p),^"^  the  form  DSlü  (tütto?),  the  sample  or 
pattern  NO*n  {Selyfia),-^^  an  ignorant,  a  non-professional,  or  a 
private  individual  oinn  {l8i,cÖT'r]<;),  a  dwarf  D3:  {vdvvo^),  a 
robber  D''t2D^  (XrycrTj??).^"*      For  the  notion  "  weak  "   or  "  ill  " 

(s!'3ü  elsewhere  means  a  marble  slab  in  the  floor,  Sota  ii.  2,  Middotli  i.  9, 
iii.  3,  or  a  tablet  with  pictures,  Rosli  hashana,  ii.  8).  X?ü1pDX,  Moed  kataii 
ii.  7  ;  Kelim  xxx.  1.  >*5^3,  Sota  ii.  2  ;  Marquardt,  ii.  632.  nso,  Berachoth 
viii.  3  ;  Marquardt,  ii.  469. 

^^^  p'TI,  Shabbath  xvi.  1  ;  Ktlim  xvi.  7,  8. 

-^^  nsip  (any  round  hollow  vessel,  cask,  basket,  box),  Pea  viii.  7  ;  Demoi 
ii.  5  ;  Shabbath  viii.  2,  xviii.  1 ;  Shekalim  iii.  2  ;  Keihitboth  vi.  4  ;  Kelim 
xvi.  3  ;  Ohaloih  vi.  2  ;  Machshirai  iv.  6,  vi.  3.  DtO'S  (more  correctly 
DIT'S),  Baba  mezia  iv.  12  ;  Baba  bathra  vi.  2  ;  Kelim  iii.  6  ;  Marquardt,  ii. 
45,  626  sq.     Hermann  and  ßlümner,  Privatalterthümei\  p.  162. 

-"^  XDpDI^J,  Gittin  iii.  3  ;  Baba  mezia  i.  8 ;  Meila  vi.  1 ;  Ohaloih  ix. 
15.  According  to  the  latter  passa.ae  a  coffin  might  have  the  form  of  a 
y'hua^wjy.ryj  or  a  Ku.y.iv'Tti».  The  LXX.  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  8,  10,  11)  put 
y'hmtjiy-oyio'j  for  pis.  bi  the  New  Testament  (John  xii.  6,  xiii.  29)  y'husao- 
y^fjuov  is  a  money-box.  See  on  all  these  meanings,  Wetstein,  Nov.  Test,  on 
,Tohn  xii.  6,  and  the  Lexicons.  NItSJDpi  Kelim  xvi.  7  ;  Ohaloth  ix.  15.  XDSp, 
Kdim  xvi.  7  ;  Marquardt,  ii.  705  sq.     5]1V"1D,  Shabbath  viii.  5  ;  Kelim  xx.  ]. 

^"^  "CIX,  Shabbath  3  ;  Chagiga  i.  8 ;  Kethuboth  xiii.  7  ;  Gittin  viii.  3 ; 
Kinnim  ii.  1 ;  Ktlim  i.  1,  ii.  1,  8,  iii.  4,  and  elsewhere ;  Ohaloth  iii.  3,  iv.  1 ; 
Sabim  v.  9. 

203  DB1Ü,  c-g-  the  different  shapes  of  the  loaf  (^Demai  v.  3,  4),  or  the  shape 
in  which  the  loaf  was  baked  {Menachoth  xi.  1),  or  the  holder  for  the 
Tephillin  (Kelim  xvi.  7),  or  the  formula  for  the  bill  of  divorcement  {Gittin 
iii.  2,  ix.  5).     XOJn,  Shabbath  x.  1,  a  specimen  of  seeds. 

-'04  j3i>in  used  very  frequently  in  the  most  different  relations,  eg.  of  a 


§  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENEIIAL.  47 

the  Greek  expression  D'':t2DN  {acrd€Vi]<;)  for  steep  D"ist:p 
(KaTa(f)€p')]<;)  is  used.^"^  The  employment  also  of  Greek  and 
Latin  proper  names  is  pretty  frequent  even  among  the  lower 
classes  and  the  Pharisaic  scribes.  Not  only  were  the  aristo- 
cratic high  priests,  who  were  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
Greeks,  called  Jason  and  Alexander  (in  the  Maccabeau 
period),  Boethus  and  Theophilus  (in  the  Herodian  period), 
not  only  did  the  Asmonean  and  Herodian  princes  bear  the 
names  of  Alexander,  Aristobulus,  Antigoniis,  Herod,  Archelaus, 
Philip,  Antipas,  Agrippa,  but  among  men  of  the  common 
people  also,  as  the  apostles  of  Christ,  names  such  as  Andrew 
and  Philip  appear.  And  in  the  circles  of  the  Eabbinical  scribes 
we  find  an  Antigonus  of  Socho,  a  R  Dosthai  ( =  Dositheus),  a 
E.  Dosaben  Archinos  (for  such  and  not  Harkinas  was  the  Greek 
name  of  his  father),  E.  Chananiah  ben  Antigonus,  E,  Tarphou 
(=:Tryphon),  E.  Papias,  Symmachus.  Latin  names  also  were 
early  naturalized.  The  John  ]\Iark  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  was,  according  to  Acts  xii.  12,  a  Palestinian  ;  so  too 
was  Joseph  Barsabas,  whose  surname  was  Justus  (Acts  i.  23). 
Josephus  mentions  besides  the  well-knowm  Justus  of  Tiberius, 
also  e.ff.  a  Niger  of  Pera^a.^^"^ 

But  all  that  has  been  said  does  not  prove  that  the  Greek 
language  also  was  familiar  to  the  common  people  of  Palestine. 
However  large  the  number  of  Greek  w'ords  which  had  pene- 
trated into  the  Hebrew  and  Aramaic,  an  acquaintance  with 


layman  as  distinguishcfl  from  a  professional  craftsman  {Moed  katan  i.  8, 
10),  or  of  a  private  in<livi(lual  in  distinction  from  a  ruler  or  official 
(Xedarhn  v.  5  ;  Sanhcdrhn  x.  2  ;  Gittin  i.  5)  ;  also  of  ordinary  priests  as 
distinguished  from  the  high  priest  {Jeiamoth  ii.  4,  vi.  2,  3,  5,  vii.  1,  ix.  1, 
2,  3).  DJ3,  Bechoroth  vii.  G,  and  in  the  proper  name  DJ3  p  [lyotJ')  Bikkurim 
iii.  9 ;  Shdbhath  xvi.  5,  and  elsewhere ;  also  of  animals  (Para  ii.  2)  and 
objects  (Tamid  iii.  5 ;  Middoth  iii.  5).  D'tOD^,  usually  in  the  plural 
D^ÜD^,  Berachoth  i.  3  ;  Pea  ii.  7,  8  ;  Shabbath  ii.  5  ;  Pemchim  iii.  7  ; 
Naair  vi.  3  ;  Baha  kanuna  vi.  1,  x.  2. 

-"^  D^3DDS.  Berachoth  ii.  6  ;  ./own  iii.  5.  DIEUp,  Ohaloth  iii.  3  ; 
Tithoroth  viii.  8,  9. 

-'"5*  Compare  in  general,  Hamburger,  Real- E7icijd.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud, 
Div.  ii.,  article  "  Namen." 


48  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL. 

Greek  by  the  mass  of  the  people  is  not  thereby  proved.  In 
fact,  it  must  be  assumed,  that  the  lower  classes  in  Palestine 
possessed  either  no  knowledge,  or  only  an  insufficient  one  of 
Greek.  When  the  Apostle  Paul  wanted  to  speak  to  the 
people  in  Jerusalem,  he  made  use  of  the  Hebrew  (Aramaic  ?) 
tongue  (Acts  xxi.  40,  xxii.  2).  When  Titus  during  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem  repeatedly  summoned  the  besieged  to 
surrender,  this  was  always  done  in  Aramaic,  whether  Titus 
commissioned  Josephus  to  speak,  or  spoke  in  his  own  name  by 
the  help  of  an  interpreter.^"^  Thus  the  incidental  knowledge 
of  Greek  on  the  part  of  the  people  was  in  any  case  by  no 
means  an  adequate  one.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  probable, 
that  a  slight  acquaintance  with  Greek  was  pretty  widely 
diffused,  and  that  the  more  educated  classes  used  it  without 
difficulty.^°^  Hellenistic  districts  not  only  surrounded 
Palestine  on  almost  every  side,  but  also  pushed  far  into  the 
interior  (Samaria,  Scythopolis).  Constant  contact  with  them 
was  inevitable.  And  it  is  not  conceivable,  that  this  should 
continue  without  the  diffusion  of  a  certain  amount  of  know- 
ledge of  the  Greek  language  in  Palestine  also.  To  this  must 
be  added,  that  the  country,  both  before  and  after  the 
Asmonean  period,  was  under  rulers,  whose  education  was  a 
Greek  one :   first  under  the   Ptolemies    and   Seleucidse,  then 


206  Joseph.  Bell  Jud.  v.  9.  2,  vi.  2.  1.  Interpreter,  Bdl  Jud.  vi.  6.  2. 
If  it  sometimes  appears  as  though  Titus  had  spoken  directly  to  the  people 
(^Bcll.  Jud.  V.  9.  2,  vi.  2.  4),  we  see  from  the  latter  passages  that  this  is 
only  in  appearance,  and  that  Josephus  had  to  interpret  his  speech  (^Bell. 
Jud.  vi.  2.  5,  init.). 

2*"^  The  question  respecting  the  diffusion  of  Greek  in  Palestine  has  been 
much  discussed  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times.  The  copious  literature  is 
recorded  in  Hase,  Lehen  Jesu,  §  29,  note  b.  Credner,  Einleitung  in  das  Nene 
Testament,  p.  183.  Volbeding,  Index  Dissertationum  quibus  singnli  Jiistoriae 
N.  T.  etc.  loci  illustrantur  (Lips.  1849),  p.  18.  Danko,  Historia  Revelationis 
divinae  Nov.  Test.  (Vindob.  1867)  p.  216  sq.  Of  more  modern  times,  Hug, 
Ei7Ü.  in  die  Schriften  des  N.  T.  (4th  ed.  1847)  ii.  27-49.  Rettig, 
Epliemerides  cxegetico-tJieolorjicae  fasc.  iii.  (Gisste  1824)  pp.  1-5.  Thiersch, 
Versuch  zur  Herstellung  des  histor.  Standpuncts  (1845),  p.  48  sqq.  Roberts, 
Discussions  on  the  Gospels,  Cambridge  and  London  1864,  Macmillan  &  Co. 
(571,  p.  8).     Delitzsch,  Saat  und  Uofnung,  1874,  p.  201  sqq. 


§  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENEItAL.  49 

under  the  Herodians  and  Eomans ;  nay  some  even  of  the 
Asmoneans  promoted  Greek  civilisation.  The  foreign  rulers 
too  brought  with  them  into  the  country  a  certain  amount  of 
elements  moulded  by  Greek  training.  We  know  of  Herod 
especially,  that  he  surrounded  himself  with  Greek  literati 
(see  §  1 5).  There  were  foreign  troops  in  the  land ;  Herod 
had  even  Thracian,  German  and  Gallic  mercenaries.^^^  The 
games  given  by  Herod  at  Jerusalem  brought  not  only  foreign 
artists,  but  spectators  from  abroad  into  the  holy  city.^*^^  But 
the  most  numerous  concourse  of  strangers  took  place  at  the 
cfreat  annual  Jewisli  festivals.  The  thousands  of  Jews,  who 
came  on  these  occasions  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  Jeru- 
salem, were  for  the  most  part  both  in  language  and  education 
Hellenists.  And  not  only  Greek  Jews,  but  actual  Greeks,  i.e. 
proselytes,  came  at  the  Jewish  feasts  to  Jerusalem  to  sacrifice 
and  worship  in  the  temple  (comp.  John  xii.  20  sqq.).  We 
must  conceive  of  the  number  of  such  proselytes,  who  made 
annual  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem,  as  something  considerable. 
Again  many  Jews,  who  had  received  a  Greek  education 
abroad,  took  up  their  permanent  abode  at  Jerusalem,  and 
even  formed  there  a  synagogue  of  their  own.  Hence  we  find 
at  Jerusalem  in  the  times  of  the  apostles  a  synagogue  of  the 
Libertines,  Cyrenians,  Alexandrians,  Cilicians,  and  Asiatics 
(Acts  vi.  9  ;  comp.  ix.  20),  in  which  it  is  uncertain  whether  one 
congregation  or  five  are  spoken  of.^°^^  In  Galilee  the  larger 
towns  had  probably  a  fraction  of  Greek  inhabitants.  We  know 
this  for  certain  of  Tiberias,"^''  not  to  speak  of  the  mainly  non- 
Jewish  Caesarea  Philippi.  Together  with  this  strong  penetra- 
tion of  the  interior  of  Palestine  by  Greek  elements,  there 
must  have  been  not  infrequently  the  necessary  acquaintance 
with  the  Greek  tongue.     And  single  traces  actually  point  to 

20«  Antt.  xvii.  8.  3.  209  Antt.  xv.  8.  1. 

209a  A.  synagogue  of  the  Alexandrians  at  Jerusalem  is  also  mentioned, 
Toscfta  Megilla  iii.,  ed.  Zuckermandel,  pp.  224,  26  ;  Jcr.  Mcr/illa  73^  (in 
Lightfoot,  Florae  on  Acts  vi.  9). 

210  Joseph.  Vita,  12. 
DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  D 


50  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUItE  IN  GENERAL. 

this.  For  while  the  Asmoneans  had  their  coins  stamped  with 
both  Greek  and  Hebrew  inscriptions,  the  Herodians  and 
Eomans  coined  even  the  money  intended  for  the  Jewish  region 
proper  with  merely  Greek  inscriptions  ;  and  it  is  known  from 
the  gospel  history  that  the  (undoubtedly  Greek)  inscription 
upon  the  coins  of  Caesar  could  be  read  without  difficulty  at 
Jerusalem  (Matt.  xx.  20  sq.  ;  Mark  xii.  16  ;  Luke  xx.  24)."^^ 
The  statement  of  the  Mishna,  that  even  in  the  temple  certain 
vessels  were  marked  with  Greek  letters,  is  certainly  supported 
there  by  only  one  authority  (11.  Tomael),  while  according  to 
the  prevailing  tradition  the  letters  were  Hebrew."^^  When 
further  it  is  determined  in  the  Mishna  that  the  writing  of 
divorcement  might  be  in  the  Greek  language  also,^^^  and  that 
the  Holy  Scriptures  might  be  used  in  the  Greek  translation,-^* 
both  these  permissions  may  refer  to  the  Jewish  Dispersion 
beyond  Palestine.  The  notice  on  the  contrary,  that  at  the 
time  of  the  war  of  Titus  (or  more  correctly  Quietus)  it  was 
forbidden  to  any  one  to  have  his  son  instructed  in  Greek,^^^ 
presupposes,  that  hitherto  that  which  was  now  prohibited  had 
taken  place  in  the  sphere  of  Eabbinic  Judaism.^^^^  Nor  can 
the  circumstance  be  otherwise  explained,  than  by  a  certain 
familiarity  with  Greek,  that  in  the  Mishna  the  names  of  Greek 
letters  are  often  used  for  the  explanation  of  certain  figures, 
e.g.  ''3  for  the  explananation  of  the  figure  X,  or  ^^^3  for  the 
explanation  of  the  figure  F.-^^ 

From  the  commencement  of  the  Koman  supremacy  the 
Latin  was  added  to  the  Greek  language  and  culture.  But 
Latin,  as  in  all  the  eastern  provinces,  so  also  in  Palestine, 
attained  no  wide  diffusion  till  the  later  imperial  period.  In 
the  first  centuries  the  Poman  officials  in  their  intercourse  with 

^'^  Comp,  the  representation  of  such  a  denarius  as  Jesus  probably  liad  iu 
His  hand,  in  Madden's  History  of  Jewish  Coinage,  p.  247. 

-1-  Shckalim  iii.  2.  ^^^  Gittin  ix.  8. 

21*  Megilla  i.  8.  215  i^^f^  ix.  14. 

"i-'ii  Comp,  on  the  general  position  of  Kabbinical  Judaism  to  Greek  edu- 
cation, Hamburger,  Real-Encycl.,  2nd  Div.,  art.  "  Griechenthum." 

216  '»3,  JllenachoiJi  vi.  3  ;  Kclim  xx.  7.    X?3S'  Middoth  iii.  1 ;  Kelim  xxviii,  7 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IX  GENERAL.        51 

provincials  exclusively  employed  the  Greek  language.  It  was 
only  in  ofificial  documents,  inscriptions,  and  the  like,  that 
Latin  was,  from  the  time  of  Caesar,  also  adopted.  Thus  e.g. 
Caesar  commanded  the  Sidonians  to  set  up  in  Sidon  upon  a 
brazen  tablet  his  decree  for  the  appointment  of  the  Jewish 
high  priest  Hyrcanus  II.  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  languages 
(Antt.  xiv.  10.  2).  Another  official  decree  of  the  same  period 
was  in  like  manner  to  be  set  up  in  the  Eoman  and  Greek 
tongues  in  the  temples  of  Sidon,  Tyre,  and  Ascalon  {Antt. 
xiv.  10.  3).  Mark  Antony  commanded  the  Tyrians  to  set 
up  in  a  public  place  a  decree  issued  by  him  in  Greek  and 
Latin  {Antt.  xiv.  12.  5).  In  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  there 
were  placed  at  intervals  on  the  enclosure  {8pv(f)aKTo<;),  beyond 
which  a  nearer  approach  to  the  sanctuary  was  forbidden  to 
Gentiles,  tablets  {ar^Xat)  with  inscriptions,  which  announced 
this  prohibition  partly  in  the  Greek  and  partly  in  the  Latin 
language  (Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  2,  vi.  2.  4).  The  superscription  also 
over  the  cross  of  Christ  was  written  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and 
Latin  (John  xix.  20).  Beyond  such  official  use  Latin  had  not 
advanced  in  Palestine,  in  the  early  times  of  the  Eoman 
supremacy. 

3.  Position  of  Judaism  loith  respect  to  Heathenism, 

The  more  vigorously  and  perseveriugly  heathenism  con- 
tinued to  penetrate  into  Palestine,  the  more  energetically  did 
legal  Judaism  feel  called  upon  to  oppose  it.  On  the  whole 
indeed  the  advance  of  heathen  culture  could  not,  as  has  been 
shown,  be  prevented.  But  for  that  very  reason  the  lines  of 
defence  against  all  illegality  were  only  the  more  strictly  and 
carefully  drawn  by  the  vigilance  of  the  scribes.  Extreme 
vigilance  in  this  direction  was  indeed  a  vital  question  for 
Judaism.  For,  if  it  was  not  to  succumb  in  the  struggle  for 
existence,  in  which  it  was  engaged,  it  must  defend  itself  with 
the  utmost  energy  against  its  adversary.  But  the  anxiety 
with  which  the  struggle  was  carried  on  infinitely  increased 


52  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  GENEKAL. 

the  danger  which  was  to  be  guarded  against,  and  which  was 
in  fact  victoriously  encountered.  For  the  greater  the  subtilty 
with  which  casuistry  determined  the  cases,  which  were  to  be 
regarded  as  a  direct  or  indirect  pollution  through  heathen 
customs,  the  more  frequent  was  the  danger  of  incurring  it. 
Hence  the  course  of  events  placed  the  pious  Israelite  in  an 
all  but  unendurable  position.  He  was  in  almost  daily  contact 
with  heathenism,  whether  with  persons  or  with  goods  and 
matters  which  «sought  and  found  entrance  into  Palestine  in 
the  way  of  trade  and  commerce.  And  the  zeal  of  the  scribes 
was  continually  increasing  the  number  of  snares,  by  which 
an  Israelite  who  was  a  strict  adherent  to  the  law  might  incur 
uncleanness  through  heathen  practices. 

Two  points  especially  were  not  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  guard- 
ing against  heathen  practices  —  (1)  heathen  idolatry  and 
(2)  heathen  non-observance  of  the  Levitical  law  of  unclean- 
ness. With  respect  to  both  the  Pharisaism  of  the  scribes 
proceeded  with  extreme  minuteness.  (1)  Por  the  sake  of 
avoiding  even  an  only  apparent  approximation  to  idolatry,  the 
Mosaic  prohibition  of  images  (Ex.  xx.  4  sq. ;  Deut.  iv.  1 6  sq., 
xxvii.  15)  was  applied  with  the  most  relentless  consistency.^^'^ 
To  suffer  anything  rather  than  the  setting  up  of  the  statue  of 
Caligula  in  the  temple  was  indeed  quite  right.^^^  But  pictorial 
representations  in  general,  such  as  the  trophies  in  the  theatre 
in  the  time  of  Herod,^^^  or  the  eagle  at  the  gate  of  the  temple,^^*' 
were  also  repudiated.  When  Pilate  marched  his  troops  into 
Jerusalem  with  the  eagles  of  the  legions,  a  regular  tumult 
took  place.^^^  Vitellius  took  his  troops  by  an  indirect  course 
from  Antioch  to  Petra  for  the  sole  reason  of  not  polluting 
the  sacred  soil  of  Judah  by  the  Eoman  eagles.^^^  And  at 
the    outbreak    of   the  war,   the    first  thing    to    be    done    in 

217  Comp.  Winer,  RWB.,  art.  "  Bildnerei."  Rüetschi,  art.  "  Bilder,"  in 
Herzog's  Real-Encycl,  2nd  ed.  ii.  460  sqq.  Wieseler,  Beiträge  zur  richtigen 
Würdigung  der  Ew.  p.  84  sqq. 

«18  Antt.  xviii.  8  ;  BeU.  Jud.  ii.  10.  ^ig  jintt.  xv.  8.  1,  2. 

220  Amt.  xvii.  6.  2  ;  Beü.  Jud.  i.  33.  2. 

« 21  Aiitt.  xviii.  o.  1  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  9.  2,  3.  222  Antt.  xviü.  5.  3. 


§  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTURE  IN  GENERAL.        53 

Tiberias  was  to  destroy  the  palace  of  Antipas,  because 
it  was  adorned  with  images  of  animals.^^^  It  seems  indeed, 
that  coins  with  the  image  of  tlie  emperor  were  circulated  in 
Judaea  (Matt.  xxii.  20,  and  parallel  passages);  but  the  coins 
issued  there  were  not,  from  considerate  forbearance,  so 
stamped.^^*  When  the  famous  scribe  Gamaliel  II.  justified  his 
visit  to  the  baths  of  Aphrodite  at  Akko  (Ptolemais)  by  saying, 
that  the  image  of  Aphrodite  was  there  because  of  the  baths, 
and  not  the  baths  because  of  the  image  of  Aphrodite,^"^  this 
was  a  kind  of  consideration  by  no  means  generally  recognised 
as  valid  in  the  sphere  of  legalistic  Judaism.  To  obviate  the 
danger  of  a  direct  or  indirect  encouragement  of  idolatry,  or 
any  kind  of  contact  therewith,  an  Israelite  was  forbidden  to 
transact  business  with  Gentiles,  to  lend  to,  or  borrow  anything 
from  them,  to  make  them  payments,  or  receive  payments 
from  them  during  the  three  days  preceding,  and,  according  to 
E.  Ismael,  also  the  three  days  following  any  heathen  festival,^^^ 
while  on  the  festival  itself  an  Israelite  was  to  hold  no  kind  of 
intercourse  in  the  town.^"'^  All  objects,  which  miglit  even 
possibly  be  connected  with  idolatrous  worship,  were  forbidden. 
Thus  heathen  wine  must  not  only  be  made  no  use  of,  because 
it  might  possibly  have  been  offered  as  a  libation,  but  it  was 
also  forbidden  to  derive  any  profit  from  it.^"'^  If  wood  had 
been  taken  from  an  idol  grove  all  use  of  it  was  prohibited. 
If  the  stove  had  been  heated  by  it,  the  stove  must  be  broken 
to  pieces,  if  it  were  still  new  ;  but  if  it  were  old,  it  must  be  let 
to  cool.  If  bread  had  been  baked  with  it,  not  only  the  eating, 
but  every  use  of  it  was  forbidden.  If  such  bread  were  mixed 
with  other  bread,  U(j   use  of  it  was  allowed.      If  a  weaver's 

"3  Vita,  12. 

224  Ewald,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Israel,  v.  82  sq.  Madden,  History  of  Jewish 
Coinage,  pp.  134-153.  De  Saulcy,  Ninnismatiqiic  dc  la  Tcrre  Sainte,  p. 
69  sqq.,  pi.  iii.  and  iv. 

225  Aboda  sara  iii.  4.  22c  y[l,oda  sara  i.  1,  2.  227  Ahoja  sara  i.  4. 

228  Aboda  sara  ii.  3  ;  comp,  also  the  Geniara  (Aboda  Sara,  or  tlie  wor- 
ship of  idols,  a  tract  from  the  Talmud,  translated  by  Ferd.  Christian  Ewald, 
2nd  ed.  1868,  p.  213  sqq.,  especially  221  sqq.). 


54  §  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  GENEEAL. 

shuttle  were  made  of  such  wood,  its  use  was  forbidden.  If  a 
garment  had  been  made  of  the  stuff  woven  therewith,  all  use 
of  the  garment  was  forbidden.  If  this  garment  had  been 
mixed  among  others,  and  these  again  among  others,  the  use 
of  all  was  forbidden.-^^ 

If  all  this  sufficiently  provided  for  the  separation  of 
Judaism  from  heathenism,  it  was  still  further  inculcated  by 
the  notion,  that  a  Gentile — as  a  non-observer  of  the  laws  of 
purification — was  unclean,  and  that  consequently  all  inter- 
course with  him  was  defiling ;  that  further,  for  the  same 
reason,  even  the  houses  of  the  heathen,  nay  all  objects 
touched  by  them, — so  far  as  these  were  receptive  of  Levitical 
uncleanness, — were  to  be  regarded  as  unclean.^^*'  When  it  is 
said  (Acts  x.  28),  that  a  Jew  might  have  no  intercourse  with 
a  heathen  (adeficrov  ia-riv  dvBpl  ^lovSaim  KoWaadat  rj 
irpoaep^eaOat  äWo(fiv\a)),  this  must  not  indeed  be  misunder- 
stood to  the  extent  of  supposing  that  there  was  an  absolute 
prohibition  of  all  intercourse,  yet  it  does  mean  that  ceremonial 
uncleanness  was  incurred  hy  such  intercourse.  All  Gentile 
houses  were  as "  such  unclean.^^*  jNIerely  to  enter  them 
was  to  become  unclean  (John  xviii.  28).  All  articles 
belonging  to  Gentiles  and  of  a  kind  susceptible  of  Levitical 
uncleanness,  were  unclean,  and  needed  before  using  some 
kind  of  purification.  "If  any  one  buys  kitchen  utensils  of 
a  Gentile,  he  must  dip  what  is  to  be  purified  by  dipping ; 
boil  what  is  to  be  boiled  and  heat  in  the  fire  what  is  to  be 
heated;  spits  and  gridirons  are  to  be  made  red-hot;  knives  need 
only  be  sharpened  and  they  are  clean."  ^^^     Apart  from  this 

229  Ahoda  sara  iii.  9. 

23"  Comp,  also  on  what  follows,  Weber,  System  der  altsynagogalen  palii- 
stinisclien  Theologie  (1880),  p.  68  sqq. 

231  Ohaloth  xviii.  7.  Comp.  Kirchner,  Die  jüdische  Passahfeier  und  Jesu 
letztes  Mahl  (Progr.  of  the  Duisburg  Gymnasium,  1870),  pp.  34-41. 
Delitzsch,  Talmudische  Studien,  xiv.  The  uncleanness  of  Gentile  houses 
according  to  Jewish  notions  is  testified  to  in  the  N.  T.  (Zcitsch:  für  luth. 
Theol.  1874,  pp.  1-4).  Schürer  on  (pxyih  to  -Trxaxx,  John  xviii.  28, 
akademische  Festschrift  (1883),  p.  23  sq. 

2''2  Ahoda  sara  v.  12. 


§  22.    THE  STATE  OF  CULTUliE  IN  GENERAL.  55 

nncleanness,  which  so  many  objects  might  contract  by  iise  on 
the  part  of  Gentiles,  there  were  lastly  many  heathen  products, 
which  could  not  be  used  by  Jews,  because  in  their  production 
the  Jewish  laws,  especially  those  relating  to  the  distinction 
between  clean  and  unclean,  had  not  been  observed.  Partly 
lor  the  former,  partly  for  the  latter  reason,  the  most  ordinary 
provisions,  if  coming  from  the  heathen,  were  not  to  be  eaten 
by  Jews,  who  were  only  allowed  to  use  them  by  buying  and 
selling.  This  was  especially  tlie  case  with  milk  milked  by  a 
heathen  without  an  Israelite  seeing  it,  also  with  the  bread 
and  oil  of  the  heathen.^^^  Neither  could  a  strictly  legal 
Israelite  at  any  time  sit  at  meat  at  a  Gentile  table  (Acts 
xi.  3  ;  Gal.  ii.  12).  Hence  Israelites  travelling  in  foreign 
countries  were  in  very  evil  case,  and,  if  they  wanted  to  be 
exact  in  their  observance  of  the  law,  had  to  restrict  themselves 
to  vegetable  raw  materials,  as  e.g.  certain  priests,  friends  of 
Josephus,  who  having  been  brought  as  prisoners  to  Eome 
lived  there  upon  nuts  and  tigs.""' 

To  all  the  reasons  here  stated,  wliich  made  intercourse 
with  the  heathen  and  their  abode  in  the  Holy  Land  a  heavy 
burden  to  an  Israelite,  who  was  faithful  to  the  law,  was  added 
an  entirely  opposite  and  doctrinal  view,  which  caused  the 
rule  of  strangers  in  the  land  of  Israel  to  be  felt  as  a  glaring 
contrast  between  the  ideal  and  reality.  For  the  land  was  the 
property  of  the  chosen  people.  None  but  Israelites  could  be 
landowners  therein.  Even  the  lettinrj  of  houses  and  fields  to 
the  heathen  was,  according  to  the  theory  of  the  scribes,  for- 
bidden.^^^     And  what  with  such  views  must  have  been  their 


-^'  Ahoda  sara  ii.  6.  With  respect  to  oil,  see  Joseph.  And.  xii.  3.  1  ; 
Bdl.  Jud.  ii.  21.  2  ;  Vita,  13.  Ou  the  motives,  see  the  Geniara  {Ahoda 
.sara,  translated  by  Ewald,  p.  247  sqq.).  Milk  e.g.  was  forbidden,  because 
there  might  possibly  be  mixed  with  it  milk  from  unclean  animals ;  oil, 
because  it  might  (at  least  according  to  one  authority)  have  contracted  nn- 
cleanness from  unclean  vessels.  Talmudic  authorities  are  not  always  clear 
even  concerning  the  motives.     See  the  discussions  in  the  Gemara  as  above. 

^"*  Joseph.  Vita,  3. 

2'^  .{hoda  .sara  1.  8.     The  letting  of  ticlds  was  still  more  strictly  forbidden 


56        §  22.  THE  STATE  OF  CULTUEE  IN  GENERAL. 

feelings  at  finding  the  heathen  really  in  possession — if  not 
privately  yet  politically — of  the  whole  land  ?  Under  such 
circumstances  we  can  understand,  that  the  question,  whether 
it  were  lawful  for  a  faithful  Israelite  to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar 
at  all,  would  be  one  of  serious  consideration  (Matt.  xxii. 
15-22  ;  Mark  xii.  13-17  ;  Luke  xx.  20-26). 

Thus  circumstances  present  us  with  a  peculiar  double 
picture:  a  yielding  to  the  influence  of  heathen  customs 
together  with  the  erection  of  the  strongest  wall  of  partition 
against  them.  So  far  as  the  actual  purpose  of  the  latter 
was  a  defence  against  heathenism  in  its  religious  aspect, 
its  aim  was  certainly  attained.  In  other  respects,  however, 
heathen  culture  was  not  restrained  by  it,  but  only  made  a 
burdensome  oppression  to  Israelites. 

than  that  of  houses,  since  in  the  former  case  not  only  was  the  possession  of 
the  soil  delivered  up  to  Gentiles,  but  tithe  was  not  paid  on  the  produce. 


§  23.  CONSTITUTION.    SANHEDRIM.     HIGH  PRIEST. 
I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS 

The  Literature  : 

Noris,  Annus  et  epochae  Sijromacedonum  in  vetustis  urhium  Syriae  nummis 
praesertlm  Mediceis  expositae  (Florence  1689).  I  cite  from  the  Leipsic 
edit.  1696. 

Belley,  Supplements  aux  Dissertations  du  Cardinal  JVoris  sur  les  ^poques  des 
Syro-MacMoniens,  in  the  Me'moires  de  V Academe  des  Inscriptions  et 
Belles-Leltres,  ancient  series,  vols.  xxvi.  xxviii.  xxx.  xxxii.  xxxv,  Paris 
1759-1770. 

Eckhel,  Doctrina  numorum  vricrum.     Vol.  iii.     Vindob.  1794. 

Mionnet,  Description  de  medailles  antiques.  Vol.  v.  Paris  1811.  Supple- 
ment.    Vol.  viii.     Paris  1837.     Recueil  des  planches.     Paris  1808. 

De  Saulcy,  Numismatique  de  la  Terre  Sainte,  Description  des  monnaics  auto- 
nomes et  imperiales  de  la  Palestine  et  de  V Arabic  Pe'tr^.     Paris  1874. 

Droysen,  Geschichte  des  Hellenismus.  2nd  ed.  3  parts  in  6  half  vols. 
Gotha  1877-1878. 

Stark,  Gaza  und  die  phil'istüische  Küste.     Jena  1852. 

Kuhn,  Die  .städtische  und  bürgerliche  Verfassung  des  römischen  Reichs  bis  auf 
die  Zeiten  Justinians.     2  parts.     Leipzig  1864-1865. 

Kuhn,  Ucber  die  Entstehung  der  Städte  der  Alten.  Komenverfassung  und 
Synoilcismos.     Leipzig  1878  (especially  pp.  422-434). 

Marquardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung.  Vol.  i.  (also  under  the  title  of 
Handb.  der  röm.  Altcrikümer  von  Marquardt  u.  Mommsen,  vol.  iv.). 
2nd  ed.     Leipzig  1881. 

Pauly's  Real-Encyclopädie  der  classischen  Alterthumsivissenschaft,  unter  den 
betr.  Artikeln. 

Winer's  and  Sclienkel's  Biblische  Jlcahcörtcrbucher,  unter  den  betr.  Artikeln. 

The  geographical  works  of  Keland,  Kaumer,  Robinson,  Ritter,  Gueriu,  and 
others  (for  the  titles  see  above,  §  2). 

Menke's  Bibclatlas,  maps  iv.  and  v. 

Of  fundamental  importance  in  the  political  life  of  Palestine 
during  the  Hellenic  era  was  the  independent  organization  of 
large  municipal  communities.  Tliis  was  indeed  no  novelty  in 
Palestine,  where  from  of  old  the  large  towns  of  the  Philistine 
and  Phoenician  coasts  had  formed  centres  of  political  life. 
The    entrance    of    Hellenism     marks     however    a    turning- 

G7 


58  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

point  in  this  respect  also.  For,  on  the  one  hand  it 
essentially  transformed  the  existing  communities,  while  on 
the  other  it  founded  numerous  new  ones  and  made  the 
municipal  communities  in  general  the  basis  of  the  jpolitical 
organization  of  the  country  in  a  far  more  thorough  manner 
than  before.  Wherever  Hellenism  penetrated — especially  on 
the  Philistine  coasts  and  the  eastern  boundaries  of  Palestine 
beyond  the  Jordan  —  the  country  districts  were  grouped 
around  single  large  towns  as  their  political  centres.  Each  of 
such  communities  formed  a  comparatively  independent  whole 
managing  its  own  internal  affairs,  and  its  dependence  upon 
the  rulers  of  Syria  consisted  only  in  the  recognition  of  their 
military  supremacy,  the  payment  of  taxes,  and  certain  other 
performances.  At  the  head  of  such  a  Hellenistically  organized 
community  was  a  democratic  senate  of  several  hundred 
members,  which  we  may  probably  conceive  of  as  resembling 
the  Athenian  ßovKrj,  i.e.  as  one  changed  annually,  chosen  from 
the  Phylae,  or  as  a  committee  chosen  by  lot  from  the  people 
(Marquardt).-^  It  formed  the  ruling  power,  not  for  the  town 
only,  but  also  for  all  the  smaller  towns  and  villages,  which 
belonged  to  the  often  extensive  district  of  the  town.^  The 
entire  Philistinian  and  Phoenician  coast  was  in  this  way 
divided  into  a  number  of  municipal  communities,  some  of 
which  were  of  considerable  importance.  We  have  then 
briefly  to  consider  as  such  the  Hellenistic  towns  in  the  east 
and  north-east  of  Palestine,  the  Hellenized  towns  in  the 
interior  of  Palestine,  such  as  Samaria  and  Scythopolis,  and  the 
towns  founded  by  Herod  and  his  sons,  of  which  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  population  was  non-Jewish. 

1  The  Senate  of  Gaza,  e.Q.  consisted  of  500  members  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii. 
13.  3),  that  of  Tiberias  of  600  {Bdl.  Jud.  ii.  21.  9).  Comp.  Kiüin,  Die 
städtische  und  bürgerliche  Verfassung,  ii.  354. 

2  The  furnishing  of  these  towns  with  a  district  of  greater  or  less  extent 
will  be  shown  in  many  cases  in  what  follows.  Compare  on  the  Hellenistic 
town-constitntion,  F.  W.  Tittmann,  Darstellmuj  der  griechischen  t^taatsver- 
fassung,  Leipzig  1822.     Marquardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  i.  208-216 

(1881).     Also  much  matter  in  the  Corp.  Inscr.  Grace,  p.  32  sqq. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  59 

Witli  all  their  independence  these  towns  of  course  par- 
ticipated on  the  whole  in  the  political  fate  of  the  rest  of 
Palestine.  In  the  time  of  the  Diadochoi  the  government 
changed  very  frequently,  Ptolemy  I.  three  times  took  pos- 
session of  Phoenicia  and  Palestine,  and  three  times  had  to 
surrender  them.  It  was  not  till  about  280  B.c.  that  Ptolemy 
(II.)  Philadelphus  succeeded  in  establishing  the  rule  of  the 
Ptolemies  over  these  countries  for  a  lengthened  period.^ 
After  that  date  not  only  Palestine  proper,  but  also  the  whole 
of  Phoenicia,  as  far  as  Eleutherus,  south  of  Aradus,  was  under 
their  dominion.^  Their  power,  however,  did  not  extend  beyond 
Lebanon.  Damascus  already  belonged  to  the  Seleucidae.* 
In  the  years  219-217  b.c.  Antiochus  assumed  a  transitory 
possession  of  Palestine,  but  was  obliged  to  give  it  up  in 
consequence  of  the  unsuccessful  battle  at  Eaphia.  After  the 
death  of  Ptolemy  (IV.)  Philopator,  he  however  invaded 
Palestine  a  second  time,  and  his  victory  at  Panias  (198  b.c.) 
was  decisive  in  favour  of  the  Seleucidae.  From  this  time 
onward  Palestine  and  the  whole  Philistinian-Phoenician  coast 
belonged  to  the  Syrian  kingdom.®  The  supremacy  of  the 
Ptolemies,  like  that  of  the  Seleucidae,  found  its  expression 
chiefly  in  two  points  :  in  the  appointment  of  military 
governors  (arpaTrjyoi)  in  the  regions  subject  to  their  sway, 
and  in  the  imposition  of  regular  taxes.  Josephus  in  his 
account  of  Josephus,  the  farmer  of  taxes,  and  his  son  Hyrcanus 
(Antt.  xii.  4),  gives  us  a  very  vivid  picture  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  system  of  taxation  was  organized  in  the  later 
period   of    their  rule,  a    picture    which,   notwithstanding   its 

^  For  particulars,  see  Stark.  Gaza  und  die,  jdiilixtäische  Küste,  pp.  ;U7-3C7. 
It  seems  probable,  from  an  inscription  of  Oum  el-Awamid,  published  by 
Renan  {Missio7i  dc  Phe'niric,  pp.  711-7Ü.5),  that  Tyre  had  an  era  wliich  began 
thirty-seven  years  later  than  that  of  the  Seleucidae,  i.e.  275  n.c.  (see  Renan 
as  above,  pp.  719-723).  Its  cause  seems  to  have  been  the  definite  seizure 
of  Phoenicia  by  Ptolemy  II.,  who  showed  himself  on  that  occasion  the 
benefactor  of  the  town.     Comp.  Six,  Numismatic  Chronicle,  1877,  p.  192. 

<  See  Stark,  pp.  368,  371.     Kuhn,  ii.  128  sq. 

^  See  below,  on  Damascus. 

^   Farther  particulars  in  Stark,  pp.  375—106,  425  sqq. 


60  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS, 

fictitious  colouring,  certainly  gives  a  faithful  reflection  of  the 
institutions.  It  shows  that  the  imposts  were  not  collected  by 
the  authorities,  but  leased  to  great  contractors,  to  whom  their 
collection  in  the  several  towns  was  given  up.^ 

Towards  the  end  of  the  second  century  before  Christ,  the 
kingdom  of  the  Seleucidae  increasingly  exhibits  an  image 
of  dissolution.  The  central  authority  was  so  weakened  by 
continual  revolutions,  that  a  multitude  of  independent  com- 
munities were  founded  in  the  border  lands  of  the  empire. 
During  this  period  therefore  not  only  did  the  Jews  obtain 
and  maintain  their  full  freedom,  but  a  numher  also  of  the 
larger  toivns,  which  had  already  in  the  wars  between  Syria 
and  Egypt  often  played  a  part  of  their  own,  declared  them- 
selves independent,  and  as  a  sign  of  their  independence  began 
a  new  computation  of  time.  Thus  Tyre  had  an  era  dating 
from  the  year  126  B.c.;  Sidon  a  similar  one  from  the  year 
111;  Ascalon  from  104.  In  other  towns  individual 
"  Tyrants  "  would  seize  upon  the  sovereignty.  Thus  we  find 
towards  the  end  of  the  second,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the 
first  century  before  Christ,  a  tyrant,  Zeno  Kotylas  in  Phila- 
delphia, his  son  Theodorus  in  Amathus  on  the  Jordan,  Zoilus 
in  Straton's  Tower  and  Dora,  Demetrius  in  Gamala.^    And  there 

'^  In  illustration  of  Josepli.  Anlt.  xii.  4,  compare  especially  Stark,  pp.  412- 
423,  and  Nussbaum,  Observationes  in  Flavii  Josephi  Antiquitates  {Göttin- 
ger Dissertat.  1875),  pp.  15-17.  There  is  an  internal  contradiction  in  the 
narrative  of  Josephus.  He  transposes  the  beginning  of  the  renting  of  the 
taxes  by  Josephus,  which  lasted  twenty-two  years  to  the  reign  of  Ptolemy 
Euergetes,  who  died  221  B.c.  (Atitt.  xii.  4.  1 ;  comp.  4.  6)  ;  the  entire 
account  also  assumes,  that  Palestine  was  then  still  under  the  rule  of  the 
Ptolemies.  Tliis  would,  as  Stark  states,  p.  416,  bring  it  to  about  the  years 
229-207  B.c.  On  the  other  hand  however  Josephus  always  calls  the  wife 
of  the  Egyptian  king,  Cleopatra,  while  this  name  was  first  naturalized  in 
the  family  of  the  Ptolemies  by  Cleopatra,  the  daughter  of  Antiochus  the 
Great  and  wife  of  Ptolemy  V.  Stark  rightly  finds  the  error  to  consist  in 
the  mistake  as  to  the  queen's  name,  and  accepts  the  results  which  follow 
from  the  other  dates.  The  view  of  Nussbaum  is  more  artificial.  It  is 
based  moreover  upon  the  improbable  assumption,  that  Palestine  had  shortly 
after  the  battle  of  Raphia  already  come  again  into  the  possession  of 
Antiochu«. 

8  Stark,  p.  478  sq.     Kuhn,  ii.  1G2. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  61 

is  no  lack  of  evidence  that  the  Eomans  at  their  entry  into 
Syria  found  there  a  number  of  independent  petty  princes.^ 

The  strengthening  of  the  Jewish  power  was  in  those  times 
fatal  for  the  towns  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Palestine.  Even 
the  earlier  Maccabees,  and  subsequently  John  Hyrcanus,  sub- 
jected several  towns.  But  it  was  especially  Alexander 
Jannaeus  who  made  conquests  on  a  large  scale.  At  the  end 
of  his  rule  all  the  coast  towns  from  Eaphia  to  Carmel,  with 
the  sole  exception  of  Ascalon,  almost  all  the  towns  of  the 
country  east  of  Jordan,  and  of  course  those  also  which  were 
situated  in  the  interior,  such  as  Samaria  and  Scythopolis,  as 
far  north  as  the  Lake  of  Merom,'°  were  subject  to  the  Jews. 

The  conquest  of  Syria  by  Pompey  put  an  end  again  at  a 
stroke  to  the  independence  of  all  the  small  towns,  which  had 
separated  themselves  from  the  empire  of  the  Seleucidae.  The 
only  consequence  to  the  autonomic  towns  was,  that  they  now 
entered  into  the  same  relations  of  voluntary  dependence 
towards  the  Eomans,  in  which  they  had  hitherto  stood  towards 
the  Seleucidae.  To  those  towns  however,  which  had  been 
subjected  by  the  Jews,  the  Eoman  invasion  had  even  the 
character  of  a  deliverance  from  a  hated  rule.  Por  Pompey 
again  separated  from  the  Jewish  region  all  those  towns  which 
had  been  subjected  to  the  Jews  since  the  time  of  the 
Maccabees  and  restored  to  them  their  freedom.^^  Josephus 
enumerates  as  such  "  liberated  "  towns,  which  had  of  course 
to  acknowledge  the  Eoman  supremacy,  the  following  :  Gaza, 
Azotus,  Jamnia,  Joppa,  Straton's  Tower,  Dora,  Samaria, 
Scythopolis,  Hippus,  Gadara,  Pella,  Dium.^^  The  list  is, 
however,  incomplete.    For  besides  the  above-named,  others  also 

'•'  Josephus  speaks  quite  generally  of  i*6i)otpy,ot  (Anit.  xiii.  16.  5).  Appiaii. 
Syr.  50,  testifies  that  Pompey  tZv  vvo  rol;  SeXfyx/S«/?  yivofiis/uv  iduZu  tcTi^ 
f^iv  iviarrioiv  ö/äs/ovj  ßxaiyvix;  »j  ovvxarct;,  whom  however  Pompey  certainly 
was  not  the  first  to  create.  Plinius,  Hist.  Nat.  v.  23,  82,  still  knows  in 
Syria  of  seventeen  tetrarchias  in  regna  dcscriptas  barbaris  nominibus. 

^o  Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4.     See  above,  §  10. 

'^  Compare  on  the  Roman  custom  of  giving  their  freedom  to  the  towna 
of  conquered  regions,  Kuhn,  ii.  15-19. 

12  Antt.  xiv.  4.  4  :  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7. 


62  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

used  the  Pompeian  era,  i.e.  the  computation  since  the  libera- 
tion by  Pompey,  and  many  of  these  towns  retained  it  till  far 
into  the  imperial  period.  Those  lying  in  the  region  east  of 
the  Jordan,  together  with  Scythopolis,  then  united  with  each 
other  in  the  "  ten  cities  alliance,"  the  so-called  Decapolis. 
The  proconsul  Gabinius  was  another  benefactor  to  many  of 
these  towns.  In  the  years  57-55  B.c.  he  rebuilt  the  towns 
of  Eaphia,  Gaza,  Anthedon,  Azotus,  Jamnia,  Apollonia,  Dora, 
Samaria  and  Scythopolis,  some  of  which  had  been  entirely 
destroyed  by  the  Jews.^^  The  Ptoman  civil  wars  however,  with 
their  exhaustion  of  the  provinces  and  the  arbitrary  rule  of 
Antony  in  the  East,  brought  bad  times  to  these  towns.  He 
bestowed  upon  Cleopatra  the  entire  Philistinian  and  Phoenician 
coast,  from  the  borders  of  Egypt  to  Eleutherus,  with  the  sole 
exception  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.^*  Even  when,  after  the  fall  of 
Antony  and  Cleopatra,  whose  authority  had  ceased  of  itself,  a 
more  quiet  era  had  been  established  by  Augustus,  many  of 
these  towns  again  changed  masters.^^  Augustus  bestowed 
upon  Herod  all  the  coast  towns  from  Gaza  to  Straton's  Tower, 
with  the  exception  of  Ascalon,  together  with  the  towns  of 
Samaria,  Hippus  and  Gadara  in  the  interior.-^^  After  the 
death  of  Herod  these  towns  again  experienced  different  fates. 
Gaza,  Hippus  and  Gadara  were  placed  under  the  immediate 
government  of  the  Roman  legate  of  Syria  (on  Anthedon,  see 
below  the  section  respecting  it) ;  Azotus  and  Jamnia  with 
Phasaelis,  which  was  built  by  Herod,  were  given  to  his  sister 
Salome,  while  Joppa,  Straton's  Tower  and  Samaria  fell  with 
the  rest  of  Judaea  to  Archelaus.-^^     The  towns  belonging  to 

13  Antt.  xiv.  5.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8.  4. 

14  Antt.  XV.  4.  I,  fin.;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  18.  5. 

15  The  different  changes  of  possessors  subsequently  to  Alexander  Jannaeus 
are  visibly  represented  by  the  numei'ous  special  maps  in  Menke's  Bibdatlas, 
plates  iv.  and  v. 

16  Antt.  XV.  7.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  20.  8.  Of  the  coast  towns  Josephus  names 
only  Gaza,  Anthedon,  Joppa,  and  Straton's  Tower.  But  Azotus  and  Jamnia, 
which  after  the  death  of  Herod  fell  to  his  sister  Salome,  must  then  have 
come  into  Herod's  possession. 

17  Antt.  xvii.  11.  4,  5;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  4. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  63 

Salome  came  after  lier  death  to  the  Empress  Livia.^®  After 
the  death  of  Livia,  they  seem  to  have  been  transferred  to  the 
private  possession  of  her  son  Tiberius,  on  which  account  we 
find  an  imperial  eVtV/aoTro?  in  his  time  in  Jamuia.^^  The 
towns  bestowed  upon  Archelaus,  together  with  the  rest  of  his 
district,  came  after  his  deposition  under  the  oversight  of  a 
Roman  procurator,  then  in  the  years  41-44  A.D.  to  King 
Agrippa  I.,  and  were  again  after  his  death  under  Eoman 
procurators.  This  frequent  change  of  masters  was  however 
of  little  more  consequence  to  these  towns,  than  that  the  taxes 
had  to  be  paid  now  to  one  now  to  another  governor.  For 
they  had,  on  the  whole,  the  independent  management  of  their 
own  afifairs,  even  though  the  supremacy  of  their  different 
masters  made  itself  sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less 
noticed.  Finally,  it  was  of  importance  to  the  development 
of  their  communal  life  that  Herod  and  liis  sons  refounded  a 
great  number  of  towns,  so  especially  Caesarea  (  =  Straton's 
Tower),  Sebaste  (  =  Samaria),  Antipatris,  Phasaelis,  Caesarea 
Philippi,  Julias,  Sepphoris,  Livias,  Tiberias. 

The  kind  of  dependence  of  these  towns  upon  the  Eoman 
power  both  in  name  and  in  fact  differed  considerably.''^  There 
were  in  the  Eoman  Empire  both  free  and  subject  communities. 
The  former  (civitates  liherac,  iXevdepot)  had  not  only  their 
own  judicature  and  administration  of  finance,  but  were  also 
free  from  taxation  proper  and  only  bound  to  certain  definitely 
appointed  contributions  ;  they  were  avrövofxoc  koX  (f)6p(ov 
cireXet«?  (Appian.  Civ.  i.  102)."^  Again  there  was  among 
these  a  privileged  class,  the  civitates  foederatae  or  such  as  had 
their  freedom  guaranteed  by  a  foedus.  All  these  free  cities 
were  indeed  dependent  upon  Eome,  but  were  not  regarded  as 

^*  Antt.  xviii.  2.  2;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  9.  1.  Azotiis  is  not  expressly  named 
but  is  certainly  intended. 

^^  Anil,  xviii.  6.  3.  Comp.  Marquardt,  Römische  StaatsccnvaltuiH/,  ii. 
248  sq. 

2"  Comp,  on  what  follows,  Kuhn,  ii.  14—11.  Marquardt,  i.  71-86,  396. 
Also  Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  522-525. 

-'  Sec  especially  Marquardt,  i.  78  sq.,  84  sq. 


64  §  23.    CONSTITUTIOX.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

belonging  in  the  strict  sense  to  the  province.  From  them 
must  then  be  distinguished  the  subject  towns  {vTrijKoot) 
properly  belonging  to  the  province,  the  specific  difference  of 
which  from  the  former  consisted  in  their  liability  to  taxation. 
For  avTovofjbia,  or  the  privilege  suis  legibus  uti,  was  often 
conceded  to  them,  though  under  the  control  of  the  Eoman 
proconsul.^^  All  the  varieties  of  civic  position  here  alluded 
to  were  represented  among  the  Syrian  towns.  Tyre  e.g.  was 
one  of  the  privileged  civitates  foederatae?^  Ascalon  was  an 
oppid'um  liberum.  But  just  because  this  is  mentioned  of 
Ascalon  as  something  special,  the  greater  number  are  not  to  be 
regarded  as  free  communities  in  the  technical  sense  of  the 
word.  Nor  is  it,  according  to  what  has  just  been  said, 
opposed  to  this  that  many  of  them  are  designated  as  avTovofioi. 
And  still  less  does  it  signify,  when  Josephus  says  that 
Pompey  made  these  towns  free  (iXevdepa^).  For  this  means 
only  their  liberation  from  Jewish  sway.  Their  political  con- 
dition is  correctly  pointed  out  by  Josephus  by  the  expressions 
7rpoaevei/j,€  rfj  iirap'^ia  and  Karera^ev  eh  rrjv  ^vpiaKrjv 
eirap-^iav?^  These  slight  political  distinctions  were  not 
indeed  of  much  practical  importance.  For  the  most  privi- 
leged towns  were  taxed  for  certain  requirements,  and  on  the 
other  hand  many  of  the  subject  towns,  at  least  in  Syria,  had 
a  jurisdiction  and  administration  of  their  own.  Least  of  all 
were  these  distinctions  paid  respect  to  with  regard  to  military 
affairs.  It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose,  that  in  war 
all  or  most  of  these  towns  were  released  from  the  obligation 
of  furnishing  auxiliaries.  At  least  Josephus  speaks  quite 
generally  of  the  auxiliaries,  which  had  been  furnished  by  "  the 
towns  "  at  the  campaign  of  Cestius  Gallus  against  Jerusalem,^ 
when  in  the  year  4  b.c.  Berytus  with  its  district  furnished 

22  See  especially  Kuhn,  ii.  34  sqq.  ^'  Marquardt,  L  75. 

24  Antt.  xiv.  4.  4 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7. 

-^  Bell.  Jud.ü.  18. 19:  IT^glffTO/  Zs  x.al  sk,  rav  ttöXsuv  Iv'tKovpot  avvihiyriaav, 
ij^-TTiipiec  /ail/  '/irrufuvot  ruv  arparturuv,  rxig  Bs  ■^podv/atxi;  axl  ru  k*t» 
lovOmiuv  (/.iatt  to  T^itTrov  lu  tccI;  s'iriar'/if^xi;  oi'Jct7^>.ripovvTig. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  65 

1500  auxiliaries  to  the  army  of  Varus,^^  this  certainly  is  not 
a  case  in  point,  inasmuch  as  Berytus  was  then  already  a 
Eoman  colony  and  was  therefore  under  different  legal  regula- 
tions from  the  other  towns.  But  we  also  know  e.g.  that  from 
A.D.  44-67  there  was  in  Caesarea  a  garrison  of  five  cohorts 
and  a  wing  of  cavalry,  which  was  formed  for  the  most  part 
of  Caesareans  and  Sebastenians  (inhabitants  of  the  towns  of 
Caesarea  and  Sebaste  and  their  respective  districts).^''  Nay  we 
find  towards  the  end  of  the  first  century  after  Christ  a  coliors 
I.  Tyriorum  already  in  Moesia.^  So  too  in  occupying  the 
towns  with  garrisons  regard  was  certainly  had  less  to  political 
distinctions  than  to  military  requirements.  "Free"  Antioch 
became  the  chief  seat  of  the  Eoman  military  force  in  Syria , 
and  we  know  of  Ascalon,  that  though  an  oppidum  liberum,  it 
received  a  Eoman  garrison,  though  but  a  small  one.^' 

The  Roman  colonics  occupied  among  the  towns  of  the 
Eoman  Empire  a  position  of  exemption  from  taxes.^"  There 
had  been  such  both  in  Palestine  and  Phoenicia  since  the  time 
of  Augustus.  The  oldest  were  Berytus,  founded  by  Augustus, 
Ptolemais  by  Claudius,  Caesarea  by  Vespasian.  AH.  the 
colonies  of  the  imperial  period  were  military  colonies,  i.e.  they 
consisted  of  superannuated  soldiers,  to  whom  possession  of 
lands  was  awarded  as  payment  for  their  services,  and  indeed 
in  such  wise,  that  this  was  always  done  to  a  large  number  at 
one  place  contemporaneously,  thereby  founding  the  colony. 
The  lands  required  for  the  purpose  were  in  earlier  times 
simply  taken  from  their   possessors.      Afterwards    {i.e.  after 


26  Antt.  xvii.  10.  9 ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  b.  1. 

27  Antt.  xix.  9.  1,  2,  xx.  6.  1 ;  Bell.  Jurl  ii.  12.  5,  iii.  4.  2,  and  especially 
XX.  8.  7:  (Aiyct  Si  (PpovovvTs;  Ivl  tu  tov;  v'hiiarov;  tuu  CvoFufixiov;  ix-üii 
arpxrivofiivav  Kxt(Txpei;  ilvxt  x,cc\  '2.tßot.(rTr,uovi.  Further  particulars  in  the 
Zeitschr.  für  wisscnKchaftUche  Thenhejie,  1875,  p.  419  Fqq. 

28  Corp.  Inscr.  Lai.  vol.  iii.  p.  SG3  (Diplom,  xx.  of  the  year  a.D.  99). 

29  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  2.  1. 

s**  See  on  this  subject  in  general,  Kein,  art.  "  Colonia  "  in  Fauly's  Ikal-Enc. 
ii.  504-517.  Kuhn,  Die  städt.  und  bürgerl.  Verf.  i.  257  sqq.  Marquardt,  i 
35  sqq.    86  sqq.,  92-132. 

1  I\".  II.  VOL.  L  E 


6ß  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.      I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Augustus)  it  was  customary  to  compensate  the  owners  or 
to  give  the  veterans  such  land  as  was  already  state  pro- 
perty. The  colonists  either  formed  a  new  community  beside 
the  older  one,  or  themselves  entered  into  the  older  com- 
munity, in  which  case  the  latter  received  in  its  entirety  the 
Eoman  municipal  constitution.^^  Thus  the  plantation  of  a 
colony,  which  had  formerly  been  an  act  of  cruel  plunder, 
gradually  became  an  actual  favour  to  a  town.  The  rights  of 
colonies  also  differed.  Those  were  in  the  most  favoured 
position,  which  had  received  the  full  jus  Italicum  and  with  it 
exemption  from  poll  taxes  and  land  taxes.'^^  Herod  imitated 
Augustus  in  his  system  of  establishing  military  colonies.^^ 

The  position  of  those  towns,  which  were  temporarily  under 
the  Heroclian  princes,  did  not  essentially  differ  from  that  of 
those  directly  under  Eoman  governors.  It  is  certainly 
possible,  that  the  Herodian  princes  made  their  power  more 
directly  felt,  but  this  cannot  be  proved.  For  the  security  of 
their  sovereignty,  they  appointed  governors  of  their  own  in 
the  towns ;  thus  Herod  the  Great  placed  an  äp-xcav  in  Idumaea 
and  Gaza,^  Agrippa  I.  a  a-Tparrjyof;  in  Caesarea  ^^  and  an 
eirap'xp'i  in  Tiberias,^^  Agrippa  II.  a  viceroy  in  Caesarea 
Philippi^  and  an  cTrap^o^  in  Gamala.'"'^  Such  a  viceroy  was 
also  the  idi^äpxv^  oi  King  Aretas  in  Damascus,  2  Cor.  xi.  32. 

The  great  independence  of  these  towns  involves  the  fact, 
that  each  had  its  special  history.  In  following  this  in  each 
separate  case,  we  shall  begin  with  the  towns  of  the  Philistinian 
and  Phoenician  coast,  advancing  from  south  to  north.  Many 
of  these  had  at  the  commencement  of  the  Hellenistic  period  a 
brilliant  past  behind  them  and  continued  to  be  of  prominent 
importance  during  the  whole  Graeco-Eoman  period. 

1.  Baphia,  'Pa^ia  (so  is  it  written  on  the  coin),  may  still  be 

31  Marquaidt,  i.  118  sq.  ^2  Marquardt,  i.  89. 

33  Antt.  XV.  8.  5.     See  below,  Samaria,  Geba,  Heshbon. 

8*  Anlt.  XV.  7.  9.  35  ^^^^^_  xix.  7.  4. 

36  Joseph.  Vita,  9  ;   whether  Agrippa  I.  or  IT.  is  spoken  of  is  uncertain. 

8'  Vita,  13.     Comp.  Kuhn,  ii.  346.  ^8  yua^  n. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  67 

pointed  out  iu  the  ruins  oi  Kirheth  hit'  Bcfah,  situated  according 
to  Gueiin  abo  ,t  half  a  league  from  the  sea,  but  upon  a  flat 
harbourless  shore/^  and  therefore  regarded  by  Pliny  and 
Ptolemy  as  an  inland  town.*"  It  was  the  first  Syrian  town 
after  leaving  Egypt."  Apart  from  the  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tions,'*' it  is  first  mentioned  in  history  in  the  campaign  of 
Antigonus  against  Egypt,  B.c.  306,  when  the  fleet  of  Antigonus, 
under  the  command  of  his  son  Demetrius,  was  here  destroyed 
by  a  storm.*^  It  then  became  famous  chiefly  through  tlie 
victory,  which  was  here  gained  by  the  unwarlike  Ptolemy 
Philopater  over  Antiochus  the  Great,  and  which  resulted  in 
the  loss  of  Palestine  and  Phoenicia  by  the  latter.'**  In  the 
year  193  the  marriage  of  Ptolemy  Philopater  with  Cleopatra, 
daughter  of  Antiochus  the  Great,  was  celebrated  here.**'*  In 
the  beginning  of  the  first  century  before  Christ  Eaphia  was 
conquered  by  Alexander  Jannaeus  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  13.  3  ; 
Bell.  Jud.  i.  4.  2  ;  comp.  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4),  was  afterwards,  like 
the  neighbouring  towns,  separated  by  Pompey  from  the  Jewish 
district  and  was  rebuilt  by  Gabinius  {Antt.  xiv.  5.  3  ;  Bell. 
Jud.  i.  8.  4).  Hence  the  coins  of  Piaphia,  of  the  imperial 
age  (from  Commodus  to  Philip  the  Arabian),  have  an  era 
commencing  with  the  refoundation  by  Gabinius   (57   B.c.).'*' 

a"  Diodor.  x.k.  74  calls  Raphia  IvaTrpoaopfnuTov  x-ui  n-jxyuo/i. 

<o  Plin.  HLst.  Nat.  v.  13.  68.  Ptolem.  (ed.  Nobbe),  v.  16.  6.  Comp, 
also,  Strabo,  xvi.  2.  31;  Itincrar.  Antonlni  (ed.  Parthey  et  Pinder,  1848), 
p.  69.  Sozomenus,  Hist.  cccl.  vii.  15.  Hierocles,  Syiiccdcmii-i  (ed.  Parthey, 
1866),  p.  U.  Reland,  Palacslina,  p.  967  sq.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xiv.  138 
sqq.,  xvi.  39.  Räumer,  Ptdiistina,  p.  219.  Gueriu,  Jiide'e,  ii.  233  •235.  Le 
Quieii,  Oriens  christianus,  iii.  630. 

■*^  Polyb.  V.  80:  TLpur/i  ruv  ■/.oc.roL  Ko/A>iv  Ivpixv  ttoKiuv  wj  "Tirpit:  rviu 
AiyvTrrov.     Joseph.  Bill.  Jud.  iv.  11.  5:  sfirt  os  h  ttoTi/s  a-vr/i  'S.vpix;  ccpx'^- 

"  Fiiedr.  Delitzsch,  Wo  lag  das  Paradies?  (1881),  p.  291. 

*^  Diodor.  xx.  74.  Droysen,  Gesch.  des  Hellenismus  (2nd  ed.),  ii.  2.  147. 
Stark,  Gaza,  p.  358. 

*^  The  battle  is  fully  described  Polyb.  v.  82-86.  Comp.  Stark,  Gaza,  p. 
382-386. 

•'''a  Livius,  XXXV.  13. 

■**  This  may  now  be  considered  as  certain,  tiiough  Noris  and  Eckliel 
still  hesitate,  whether  the  era  of  Pompey  or  of  Gabinius  was  to  be 
accepted.     See  Noris,  Annus  el  epochae  Synmacedomnn,  v.  4.  2  (ed.  Lips  p. 


68  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

It  seems  hence  to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  the  Herodian 
princes. 

2.  G-aza,  Fd^a,  Hebr.  n-|y,*'^  the  ancient  and  important  city 
of  the  Philstines,  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament.*^ 
Herodotus  knows  it  by  the  name  of  KdSuri^,  and  remarks, 
that  it  is  not  much  smaller  than  Sardis.^'*  Already  in  the 
times  of  Persian  supremacy  it  must — as  the  coins  testify — 
have  been  in  active  intercourse  with  Greece.*^**  In  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great  it  was  next  to  Tyre  the  most  important 
fortress  on  the  Philistinian-Phoenician  coast,  Alexander  did 
not  take  it  till  after  a  three  months'  troublesome  siege  (332 
B.c.).^^     After  that  time  it  became  more  and  more  a  Greek 

515-521).  Eckhel,  Doctrina  numorum,  iii.  454  sq.  Mionnct,  Description 
de  medailles,  v.  551  gq. ;  Suppl.  via.  376  sq. ;  Kenner,  Die  Münzsammlung 
des  Stifts  St.  Florian  in  Ober-Oesterreich  (1871),  pp.  179-182,  Plate  vi.  u. 
17-18.  De  Saulcy,  Numismatique  de  la  Ten-e  Sainte,  pp.  237-240,  pi.  xii.  n. 
7-9.     Stark,  Gaza,  p.  515. 

*®  On  the  Hebrew  form,  comp.  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Yü^a.-  sx.'htjdri  Kotl  "A^a.- 
xal  f^ixpt  vvv  '2vpoi  " A^ccu  oti/TViv  KXKovuiy. 

*•  See  Reland,  Palaestina,  pp.  787-800.  Robinson's  Palestine,  ii.  pp. 
36-43.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xvi.  45-65.  Raumer,  Palästina,  pp.  192-194. 
Winer,  RWB.  s.v.  Arnold  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc.,  1st  ed.  iv.  671-674. 
Sepp,  Jerusalem  und  das  heilige  Land,  2nd  ed.  ii.  617  sqq.  Guerin,  Jude'e,  ii. 
178-211,  219-221.  The  Survey  of  Wcsfeiii  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder 
and  Kitchener,  iii.  234  sq.,  248-251,  and  pi.  xix.  of  the  large  Eoglish  chart. 
Gatt,  Bemerkungen  über  Gaza  und  seine  Umgebung  (^Zeitschr.  des  deutschen 
Pal.  Ver.  vii.  1-14).  For  the  history,  see  especially  Stark,  Gaza.  Also 
Alb.  V.  Hormann,  Gaza,  Stadt,  Umgebung  und  Geschichte,  1876  (Progr.  des 
Knabenseminars  der  Diöcese  Brixen  zu  Rothholz,  see  the  notice  in  Zeitschr. 
f.  die  Österreich.  Gymnasien,  1877,  p.  142  sq.). 

*''*  Herodot.  ii.  159,  iii.  5  :  Ixpoiuu  ov  x.o'h'hu  i'hxauouo;. 

*''^  Comp,  on  these  exceedingly  interesting  coins  the  learned  article  of 
Six,  Observations  sur  les  monnaies  pheniciennes  {Numismatic  Chronicle, 
new  series,  vol.  xvii.  1877,  pp.  177-241 ;  on  Gaza,  pp.  221-239).  The 
coins  have  partly  Greek,  partly  Phoenician  inscriptions.  The  name  of  the 
town  (fy  or  nfy)  is  to  bo  seen  at  all  events  on  several  of  them.  Their 
most  interesting  feature  however  is,  that  they  are  coined  according  to  an 
Athenian  standard  and  with  Athenian  types,  evidently  for  commerce  with 
Greece.  It  is  probable,  that  genuine  Athenian  coins  first  came  to  Palestine 
in  the  period  of  the  hegemony  of  Athens  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ, 
and  that  henceforth  others  were  coined  after  their  pattern.  See  Six,  as 
above,  pp.  230  sq.,  234-236. 

*^  The  two  months'  duration  of  this  siege  is  testified  by  Diodor.  xvii.  48 
and  Josephus,  Antf.  xi.  8.  3,  4.    Comp,  also  Arrian,  ii.  26,  27.    Curtins,  iv.  6, 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.     TUE  UELLENIöTIC  TOWNS.  69 

town.^''^  The  contests  of  Ptolemy  Lagos  with  the  other 
Diadochoi  for  the  possession  of  Coelesyria  of  course  affected 
Gaza  in  the  highest  degree.  In  315  b.c.  it  was  conquered 
by  Antigonus.^**  In  312  it  again  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Ptolemy  in  consequence  of  his  victory  gained  at  Gaza  over 
Demetrius  the  son  of  Antigonus.''^  In  the  same  year  how- 
ever he  renounced  the  possession  of  Coelesyria,  and  on  his 
retreat  had  the  most  important  fortresses,  Gaza  among  them, 
demolished.®-  The  sovereignty  over  these  districts  changed 
several  times  during  the  decades  next  following,  till  at 
length  they  were  for  a  longer  period  in  the  possession  of  the 
Ptolemies  about  240  B.C.  In  the  years  218-217  Gaza,  like 
the  rest  of  Syria,  was  temporarily  in  the  possession  of 
Antiochus  the  Great.®^  Twenty  years  later  Coelesyria  came 
permanently  under  the  dominion  of  the  Seleucidae  through 
the  victory  of  Antiochus  the  Great  at  Panias  (198  b.c.). 
Gaza  also  must  then  have  been  conquered  after  a  difficult 
siege,  to  which  indeed  we  have  only  allusions  in  Polybius." 
The  sway  of  the  Seleucidae  is  evidenced  among  other  things  by 
a  coin  of  Demetrius  I.  (Soter)  minted  at  Gaza.^^  During  the 
contests  in  the  Syrian  kingdom  between  Demetrius  II.  (Nicator) 
and  Antiochus  VI.  respecting  Trypho  (145-143  B.c.),  Gaza 
refusing   to  join   the   party  of   Antiochus,  was   besieged    by 

and  Plutarch.  Alexander,  25.  Polyb.  xvi.  40  (=  ed.  Hultsch,  xvi.  22»). 
Droysen,  Gesch.  cl.  Hellenismus,  2nd  ed.  i.  1,  297-301.  Stark,  Gaza,  pp. 
236-244. 

*^  It  is  expressly  designated  a  to'^/j  'eax»)V(V,  Joseph,  jbift.  xvii.  11.  4; 
Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  3. 

'io  Diodor.  xix.  59.     Droysen,  ii.  2.  11.     Stark,  p.  350, 

^1  Diodor.  xix.  84.  On  the  battle,  Droysen,  ii.  2.  42  sqq.  Stark,  pp. 
351-354. 

*^  Diodor.  xix.  93  :  KU^iuKxy^i  rxg  d^t'j'h'jyuTÜTot,;  -uv  KiKp»-Yit^.ivuv  ttöXicü!/, 
AxYiu  ftsu  T^i  <l>oi'jix.r,g  "Evpict;,  '  IöVjj»  S«  koci  loixccpnoty  nxl  Vet^xu  tth 
Ivpiu;.     Comp.  Stark,  p.  355  sq. 

*3  Polyb.  V.  80.     Stark,  pp.  382-385. 

«*  Polyb.  xvi.  18,  xvi.  40  (ed.  Hultsch,  xvi.  22'0,  xxix.  6*  (ed.  Ilultsch, 
xxix.  12).     Stark,  p.  204  sq. 

^^  Gardner,  Caialague  of  the  Greek  Cuius  in  the  British  Ji'useum,  Sekucid 
kiJigs  of  Sijria  (1878),  p.  47. 


70  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Jonathan  the  Maccabee  in  coucert  with  him,  and  its  environs 
laid  waste,  whereupon  it  gave  up  its  opposition  and  delivered 
hostages  to  Jonathan  as  a  pledge  of  its  adherence  to 
Antiochus.^"  With  respect  to  the  constitution  of  Gaza  at 
this  time  we  learn  incidentally,  that  it  had  a  council  of  500 
members.^^  About  the  year  96  B.c.  Gaza  as  well  as  the 
neighbouring  cities  of  Eaphia  and  Anthedon  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Alexander  Jannaeus.  Alexander  conquered  it  after 
a  siege  of  one  year,  though  at  last  only  through  treachery,  and 
abandoned  the  city  and  its  inhabitants  to  destruction  (Joseph. 
Antt.  xiii.  13.  3;  Bell.  Jiid.  i.  4.  2;  comp.  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4. 
Stark,  p.  499  sqq.).  When  Pompey  conquered  Syria,  Gaza 
also — so  far  as  its  existence  can  be  then  spoken  of — obtained 
its  freedom  {Antt.  xiv.  4.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7).  The  newly 
built  town  consequently  began  a  new  era  from  the  time  ef 
Pompey  (52  b.c.).'^  The  rebuilding  itself  did  not  take  place 
till  the  time  of  Gabinius  {Antt.  xv.  5.  3).  Probably  the 
ancient  Gaza  was  then  forsaken  and  the  new  town  built 
somewhat   farther   southwards.^^     In  the  year   30   b.c.    Gaza 

^^  1  Mace.  xi.  61,  62.  Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  5.  5.  Stark,  p.  492,  No 
conquest  of  Gaza  took  place  in  the  Maccabean  period.  For  in  the  passage 
1  Mace.  xiii.  43-48  we  must  read  Gaz  u'a. 

^'^  Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  13.  3. 

"8  On  the  era  of  Gaza,  comp.  Noris,  Annus  et  epochae  Syromaced.  v.  2,  3 
(ed.  Lips.  pp.  476-502).  Eckhel,  Doct.  Num.  iii.  448-454.  Lleler,  Handb. 
der  Clironol.  i.  474  sq.  Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  513-515.  The  coins  in  Mionnet,  v. 
535-549 ;  Suppl.  viii.  371-375.  De  Saulcy,  Nvmismatique  dc  la  Terre 
Sainte,  pp.  209-233,  pi.  xi.  The  Chronicon  pascJiale  (ed.  Dindorf,  i.  352) 
remarks  on  Olymp.  179.  4  =  61  B.c. :  'Eynvhu  Tx^ocht  tov;  ia.vrZ)v  yjövov^ 
dpiß^uüvaiv.  Hence  Noris  and  Eckhel  place  the  begiuning  of  the  era  in  the 
year  61  B.C.  According  however  to  Ideler  and  Stark,  the  year  62  must 
according  to  the  coins  be  regarded  as  the  starting-point  of  the  era. 

^^  On  the  distinction  between  Old  and  New  Gaza,  comp,  especially 
Stark,  pp.  352  sq.,  509-513.  The  town  near  which  Ptolemy  Lagos  conquered 
Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  312  B.C.,  is  expressly  called  Old  Gaza  by  Diodorus 
and  Porphyry ;  see  Diodor.  xix.  80  (r'/iu  ■yra'Accixv  Tx^xu) ;  Porphyry  in  the 
fragment  in  Euseb.  Chron.  ed.  Schoene,  i.  col.  249-250  (according  to  the 
Armenian  veterem  Gazam,  in  Greek  in  Syncellus,  Hx'hxi'/oi^ctv,  or  as  Gutschmid 
reads  Hcthxiyx^^v).  It  is  to  just  this  Old  Gaza  that  the  notice  of  Strabo, 
that  Gaza  was  destroyed  by  Alexander  and  has  since  lain  waste,  refers ; 
Strabo,  xvi.  2.  30,  p.  759:  x.oLTia7:xai/.iVYi  o  v'xoW'Ks^öt.uhpov  kxI  f^ivovaec 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  71 

came  under  the  authority  of  Herod  the  Great  (Antt.  xv.  7.  3  ; 
Bell.  Jud.  i.  20.  3).  After  his  death  it  was  again  added  to 
the  province  of  Syria  (Antt.  xvii.  11.  4;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  3). 
With  this  agrees  the  fact,  that  the  imperial  coins  of  Gaza  do 
not  begin  till  after  the  death  of  Herod  the  Great,  The 
oldest  known  are  two  coins  of  Augustus  of  the  years  63  and 
66  aer.  Gaz.*^°  In  the  time  of  Claudius,  Gaza  is  spoken  of  as 
an  important  city  by  the  geographer  Mela.^^  In  A.D.  66  it 
was  attacked  and  destroyed  by  the  rebellious  Jews  (Joseph. 
Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1).  This  must  however  have  been  a  very 
partial  destruction,  For  so  strong  a  fortress  could  not 
have   been  actually  destroyed  by  a  baud  of  insurrectionary 

spyifAo;.  [The  remark  in  Acts  viii.  26 :  xvrn  iarh  spYi/^io;,  is  on  the  con- 
trary not  in  point  here,  because  cuvTri  there  more  probably  refers  to  o'Bo'c,-.] 
Strabo  is  indeed  so  far  mistaken,  that  he  seems  to  know  nothing  of  New 
Gaza,  his  remark  being  based  upon  the  statement  of  an  older  geographer,  in 
whose  time  New  Gaza  did  not  as  yet  exist.  The  existence  of  a  New  Gaza, 
somewhat  to  the  south  of  Old  Gaza,  is  however  chiefly  evidenced  by  an 
anonymous  geographical  fragment  (A^o(7'3-«o-^ar<«  nuoc  yiO)ypct(pi>ici,  ed, 
Hudsun  [in  the  appendix  to  his  edition  of  Diouysius  Perieget.,  Gcographiae 
vet.  scriptorcs  Graeci  minores,  vol.  iv.,  Oxon.  1717],  p.  39:  /xtroi  rx 
'  Vi'jo/,6povp»7j  vix  Txt)X  Kihxi  -xoXt;  oiiax  kxi  xvrvi  ud  ij  epyifios  Tcc^x,  strx  i] 
^AaKxhav  woA/f)  and  by  Hieronynms  (^Onnmast.,  ed.  Lagarde,  p.  125  : 
antiquae  civitatis  locum  vix  fundamentorum  praebere  vestigia,  banc  autem 
quae  nunc  cernitur,  in  alio  loco  pro  ilia,  quae  conruit,  aedificatam).  If 
then  the  local  distinction  of  Old  and  New  Gaza  is  beyond  question,  we  must 
also  with  Stark  consider  it  most  probable,  that  the  foundation  of  New 
Gaza  must  be  referred  to  Gabinius.  For  an  entire  destruction  of  Old  Gaza 
did  not,  as  Strabo  seems  to  suppose,  result  from  its  conquest  by  Alexander 
the  Great,  but  from  that  by  Alexander  Jannaeus.  For  the  rest  both  Old 
and  New  Gaza  lay  twenty  stadia  inland  (see  on  Old  Gaza,  Arrian,  II.  26  ;  on 
New  Gaza,  Sozom.  Hist.  eccl.  v.  3  ;  Strabo,  p.  759,  erroneously  seven 
stadia,  Antoninus  Martyr,  c.  33,  mil.  pass.).  From  both  too  must  be 
distinguished  the  port  of  Gaza,  which  indeed  remained  the  same  for  both, 
Tx^xiay  "htf^vju,  Strabo,  p.  759  ;  Ptoleniaeus,  v.  16,  2,  This  port  was  raised 
to  a  city  under  the  name  of  Kuuarxvntx  by  Constantine  the  Great  (Euseb, 
Vita  Constantin.  iv.  38 ;  Sozc^meuus,  Hist.  cccl.  ii.  5),  but  lost  this  name 
again  together  with  the  rights  of  a  city  through  Julian  and  was  afterwards 
called  again  only  'Mx'iov^ux;  (=  seaport  town)  ;  see  Sozom.  Hist.  cccl.  v,  3. 
Marci  Diaconi  Vita  Porpliyrii,  ed,  Haupt  (an  article  of  the  Berlin  Acad, 
1874),  c,  57.  Antoninus  Martyr,  c.  33.  Reland,  p.  791  sqq.  Stark,  p.  513. 
Kuhn,  ii,  363,     Guerin,  JuJa;  ii.  219-221. 

CO  Eckhel,  iii,  453  sq,     Mionnet,  v,  53G.     De  Saulcy,  p.  213. 

*^  Mela,  1.  11  :  in  Falaestina  est  iugins  et  munita  admodum  Gaza. 


72  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Jews.  Coins  too  of  the  years  130,  132,  135  aer.  Gaza, 
(=  A.D.  68/69,  70/71,  73/74)  testify  to  the  lasting  pro- 
sjDerity  of  the  city.^^  Special  tokens  of  favour  seem  to  have 
been  bestowed  upon  it  by  Hadrian.*'^  It  is  called  on  an 
inscription  of  the  time  of  Gordian  (a.D.  238-244)  lepa  koX 
a<Tv\o<i  Kol  avTovofio'if'*  It  must  have  subsequently  become 
a  Eoman  colony. ^^  Eusebius  speaks  of  it  as  a  ttoXi? 
iiria-rjjiioi;.^  And  this  too  it  remained  for  a  considerable 
period.®^  The  independence  of  these  great  cities  is  shown 
in  perhaps  the  most  striking  manner  by  the  fact,  that 
Gaza  as  well  as  Ascalon,  Tyre  and  Sidon  had  each  its  own 
calendar.^ 

3.  Anthedon,  ^AvOrjScov,  situate  on  the  sea,  erroneously  called 
an  inland  town  by  Pliny,^^  was  according  to  Sozomen  only 
twenty  stadia  from  Gaza,  probably  in  a  northerly  (north- 
westerly) direction.*^^^     Its  very  name  shows  it  to  have  been 

*2  Miomiet,  v.  .537  sq. ;  Sitppl.  viii.  372.     De  Saulcy,  p.  214. 

^^  The  coins  of  Hadrian's  time  have  a  new  Hadrianic  era  as  well  as  the 
usual  town  era.  The  Chronicon  paschale  (ed.  Diudorf,  i.  474)  mentions 
besides  a  iroiv/iyvptg  Wdpiuv/j,  as  celebrated  since  the  time  of  Hadrian.  See 
Stark,  p.  550. 

^*  Corp.  Inscr.  Grace,  n.  5892.     Comp.  Stark,  p.  554  sq. 

^^  Le  Bas  et  AVaddington,  Inscriptions.,  vol.  iii.  n.  1904  :  KoXuiviag  Tx^yig. 
The  mention  also  of  a  Gazensis  Duumvir  by  Jerome,  Vita  Hilarionis,  c.  20 
(Vallarsi,  ii.  22),  points  to  a  Roman  municipal  constitution.  Comp. 
Marquardt,  Rom.  Staatsverwaltung,  i.  429. 

^^  Euseb.  Onomast..,  ed.  Lagarde,  p.  242. 

^^  Antoninus  Martyr  (about  A.D.  570,  De  locis  Sanctis,  c.  33  ;  Tublcr  et 
Molinier,  Itinera,  i.  109)  ;  Gaza  autem  civitas  est  splendida,  deliciosa, 
homines  in  ea  honestissiiui,  omni  liberalitate  decori,  amatores  peregiinorum. 

^^  See  on  the  whole,  Ideler,  Handbuch  der  Chronologie,  i.  410  sq.,  434  sq., 
438  sq.    On  Gaza  also,  Noris,  v.  2  (ed.  Lips.  p.  476  sqq.).    Stark,  p.  517  sq. 

63  Plin.  Hist.  Xat.  v.  13.  68 :  intus  Anthedou.  That  it  was  on  the  coast 
is  however  certain  from  the  unanimous  testimony  of  all  other  authors ;  see 
Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4,  xviii.  6.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  8  ;  Ptolem.  v.  16.  2  ; 
Steph.  Byz.  s.v.j  Sozomenus,  Hist.  eccl.  v.  9.  See  on  the  subject  in 
general,  Reland,  Pcdaestina,  pp.  566-568.  Raumer,  Palästina,  p.  171, 
Pauly's  Real-Enciicl.  i.  1.  1087  sq.  Guerin,  Judce,  ii.  215-218.  Le  Quien, 
Oriens  christianus,  iii.  631. 

6'^  Sozomenus,  v.  9.  Anthedon  is  according  to  Joseph.  A7iti.  xiii.  15.  4 
generally  placed  south  of  Gaza.  But  the  majority  of  the  passages  from 
Josephus  speak  of  it  as  north  of  Gaza  {Antt.  xv.  7.  3  ;  Dell.  Jud.  i.  4.  2,  20. 


§  23     CONSTITUTION.       I.  THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  73 

founded  in  the  Greek  period.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  the 
time  of  Alexander  Jannaeus,  who  conquered  it  about  the  same 
time  as  Eaphia  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  13.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  4.  2  ; 
comp.  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4).  Like  the  other  coast  towns  it  was 
undoubtedly  retaken  from  the  Jews  by  Pompey.  Gabinius 
rebuilt  it  {Antt.  xiv.  5.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8.  4).  Augustus 
bestowed  it  on  Herod  {Antt.  xv.  7.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  20.  3), 
Avho  again  restored  it  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Agrippias  or 
Agrippeion  in  honour  of  Agrippa  {Antt.  xiii.  13.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  4.  2,  21,  8).  It  is  not  expressly  mentioned  in  the  parti- 
tion of  Herod's  inheritance.  Hence  it  is  uncertain  whether, 
like  its  neighbour  Gaza,  it  was  united  to  the  province  of 
Syria,  or  passed  like  Joppa  and  Caesarea  to  Archelaus  (see 
Stark,  p.  542  sq.).  In  the  latter  case  it  would  have  shared 
the  fate  of  the  rest  of  Judaea  and  therefore  have  come,  after 
the  deposition  of  Archelaus,  under  Eoman  procurators  and 
have  been  from  A.D.  41-44  under  the  rule  of  King  Agrippa. 
The  existence  of  a  coin  of  Anthedon  with  the  name  of  Agrippa 
would  give  evidence  of  the  latter,  if  its  reading  were  certain.'" 
At  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  war  Anthedon  was  attacked 
and  partially  devastated  by  tlie  revolted  Jews  {Bell.  Jud.  ii. 
18.  1).  The  name  Agrippias  was  never  naturalized;  Josephus 
already  and  all  subsequent  authors  call  it  Anthedon  again. '^ 
On  coins  too  only  this  name  occurs.'^ 

3,  ii.  18.  1)  ;  so  too  PJinius,  v.  13.  G8.  The  note  of  Theodosiiis  is  decisive 
for  its  lying  between  Gaza  and  Ascalon ;  Theodosius,  De  situ  terrae  sanctae  (ed. 
Gildtmeister,  1882),  §  18  :  inter  Ascalonam  et  Gazam  civitates  duae,  id  est 
Anthedon  et  Maiouia.  Rightly  thercfore  has  Gatt  (Zeitschr.  des  Deutsdun 
J'aUisliiia-Veix'ins,  vii.  1S84,  pp.  5-7)  identified  the  ruins  of  el-Blachije, 
one  league  north-west  of  Gaza,  for  which  a  native  gave  him  the  name  of 
Teda,  with  Anthedon.  Comp,  also  the  remarks  of  Xoldeke  and  Gilde- 
meister,  Zcitsdir.  d.  DPV.  vii.  140-U2. 

'•^  The  coins  in  Mionnet,  Snppl.  viii.  364.  A^'ainst  the  correctness  of  the 
reading  see  Madden,  Coins  o/  the  Jews  (1881),  p.  134. 

''^  So  Plinius,  Ptolemaeus,  Steph.  Byz.,  Sozomenus  in  the  passages  cited ; 
Ilierocles,  .Synced,  p.  44 ;  the  Acts  of  the  Councils  in  Le  Qnien,  as  above. 
The  isolated  assertion  of  Tzetzes  (in  Reland,  p.  567),  that  the  former 
Anthedon  is  "  now  "  called  Agrippias,  is  based  upon  Josephus  only. 

'-  Eckhcl,  Doctr.  Num.  iii.  443  sq.    Miounet,  Dcscript.  v.  522  sq. ;  Sujßj/L 


74  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.  THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS, 

4.  Ascalon,  ^Ao-koXov,  Hebr.  I^^p'^'i?,  was  like  Gaza  an  impor- 
tant town  of  the  Philistines,  repeatedly  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  also  already  known  to  Herodotus/^  The  present 
Ascalon  lies  close  to  the  sea,  and  Ptolemy  also  mentions 
Ascalon  as  a  coast  townJ*  But  the  old  town  must  have  lain 
inland,  if  ever  so  little,  since  even  in  the  sixth  century  after 
Christ  Ascalon  and  Majuma  Ascalonis  are  distinguished/'^ 
In  the  Persian  period  Ascalon  belonged  to  the  TyriansJ® 
Coins  of  Alexander  the  Great  coined  at  Ascalon  mark  the 
commencement  of  the  Hellenistic  period/^^  Like  all  Palestine 
and  Phoenicia  it  was  in  the  third  century  before  Christ  under 
the  dominion  of  the  Ptolemies,  and  had  consequently  to  pay 
them  yearly  tribute/'     With  Antiochus  HI.  began  its  subjec- 

viii.  364.  De  Saulcy,  Numismatique  de  la  Terre  Sainie,  pp.  234-236,  pi.  xii. 
n.  1-4.  All  three  indeed  give  also  coins  with  the  legend  '  A-ypi-inriov.  Bui 
these  do  not  belong  to  Authedon  ;  see  Stark,  p.  515. 

'3  Herodot.  i.  105.  See  on  Ascalon  in  general,  Eeland,  Palaestina,  pp. 
586-596.  Winer,  RWB.,  and  Pauly,  Real-Enc.  s.v.  Ritter,  Erdkunde, 
xvi.  70-89.  Eaumer,  Paläst.  p.  173  sq.  Tobler,  Brüte  Wanderung  nach 
Palästina  (1859),  pp.  32-44.  Sepp,  Jerusalem  (2nd  ed.),  ii.  599  sqq. 
Guerin,  Judee,  ii.  185-149,  153-171.  Guthe,  Die  Ruinen  Aslaluii's,  with  a 
plan  (Zeitsclir.  d.  deutschen  Palästina-Vereins,  ii.  164  sqq.).  The  Survey  of 
Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  iii.  237-247  (with 
a  plan),  also  plate  xix.  of  the  large  English  chart. 

^*  Ptolem.  V.  10.  2. 

^^  Antoninus  Martyr,  c.  33  (in  Tobler  and  Molinier,  Itinera,  i.  109)  : 
Ascalonem  ...  In  proximo  civitatis  Maiuraa  Ascalonis.  In  A.D.  518  a 
bishop  of  Ascalon  and  a  bishop  of  Majuma  Ascalonis  are  mentioned  con- 
temporaneously ;  see  Le  Quien,  Oriens  christ.  iii.  602  sq.     Kuhn,  ii,  363, 

''''  Scylax  in  Geographi  graeci  minores,  ed.  Müller,  i.  79 :  ^  Ka/A'Kuv  •yrohii 
Tvpiuu  x.ctl  ßnaihsid.  Movers  {Phonicier,  Ü.  2.  177  sq.)  insists  on  referring 
this  notice  only  to  the  harbour  of  Ascalon  (Majuma  Ascalonis)  which  he 
considers  to  be  a  foundation  of  the  Tyrians.  But  this  lay  in  the  immediate 
neighboui'hood  of  the  town  (see  the  preceding  note)  and  could  hardly  have 
been  in  the  possession  of  any,  who  did  not  own  the  town  itself.  It  is  on 
the  contrary  to  be  suj^posed,  that  Ascalon  was,  in  the  Persian  period  (to 
which  the  statements  of  Scylax  refer)  under  the  rule  of  the  Tyrians  as 
Joppa  and  Dora  were  under  that  of  the  Sidonians. 

'•^^  L.  Müller,  Numismatique  d'' Alexandre  le  Grand  (1855),  p.  308,  planches, 
n.  1472  sqq.  The  coins  communicated  by  Mionnet,  i.  522,  Suppl.  iii.  199, 
belong,  according  to  Müller,  p.  267,  to  the  town  of  Aspendos  in  Pamphylia. 

^''  Joseph.  Antt.  xii.  4.  5  ;  see  above,  p.  52  sq.  If  it  is  correct,  that  a  coin 
of  Antiochus,  coined  at  Ascalon,  is  in  existence  (as  Mionnet,  v.  8,  No.  53, 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.  THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  75 

tiou  to  tlie  Seleucidae,  which  is  also  evidenced  by  Ascalonian 
Seleucid  coins  from  Autiochus  III.  to  Antiochus  IX.'''  Ascalon 
was  able  by  prudent  concessions  to  protect  itself  against  the 
increasing  power  of  the  Jews.  The  Maccabaean  Jonathan  did 
indeed  march  twice  against  tlie  town,  but  was  on  both  occasions 
pacified  by  a  respectful  welcome  on  the  part  of  the  inhabit- 
ants.^^ Ascalon  was  also  the  only  coast  town,  which  remained 
unmolested  by  Alexander  Jannaeus.  It  was  able  in  the  year 
104  B.c.  to  attain  to  independence  and  thenceforth  began  a 
computation  of  time  of  its  own,  which  it  made  use  of  even  in 
the  times  of  the  Eoman  Empire.'*  The  Eomans  acknowledged  its 
independence  at  least  formally.''^  Besides  the  usual  era  of  tlie 
year  104  b.c.  another  of  57  B.c.  occurs  in  several  instances, 
which  proves  that  Ascalon  was  favoured  by  Gabinius.^^  On 
some  of  the  coins  of  Ascalon  the  heads  have  been  taken  for 

states),  Ascalon  must  at  that  time  have  been  imder  Syrian  sway.  But 
comp,  on  the  other  side,  Stark,  Gaza^  p.  476 ;  Droysen,  iii.  1.  274. 

"•^  Mionnct  describes  Ascaloniau  coins  of  Antiochus  III.  and  lY.,  of  Trypho 
and  Antiochus  YIII.  {Descripi.  de  medailles,  v.  p.  25,  No.  219,  pp.  88,  72, 
No.  625,  p.  525  ;  Suppl.  viii.  366).  The  catalogue  of  the  British  Museum 
gives  such  of  Trypho,  Alexander  Zebinas,  Antiochus  YIII.  and  IX.  (Gai-dner, 
Catcdogne  of  the  Grcdc  Coins,  Seleucid  Kings,  1878,  pp.  68,  69,  81-88,  91)  ; 
de  Saulcy,  one  of  Trypho  (Mekinc/cs  de  Niimismaiique,  vol.  ii.  1877,  p. 
82  sq.).     See  on  the  subject  generally,  Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  474-477. 

"  1  Mace.  X.  86  and  xi.  60.     Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  490  sq.,  492. 

80  See  on  the  era  104  b.c.,  Cliron.  pascJiale  on  Olymp.  169.  1  =  104  B.c. 
(ed.  Dindorf,  i.  346)  :  '  AaKxT^avlrxi  rev;  euvrZv  )cpö'jov;  iuni/dsv  cl()id[/,ov(jiu. 
Ilieron,  Chron.  ad  ami.  AhraJi.  2295  (in  Euseb.  Chron.,  ed  Schoene, 
ii.  185):  The  second  year  of  Probus  (1030  A.v.C.)  =  380  aer.  Ascal. 
Noris,  Annus  et  epochac,  v.  4.  1  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  503-515).  Eckhel,  Doclr. 
Num.  iii.  444-447.  Coins  in  Mionnct,  Descr.  v.  523-533  ;  Suppl.  viii.  365- 
370.  De  Saulcy,  Nuinismali(juc  dc  la  Terre  Salute,  pp.  178-208,  406,  pi.  ix.  x. 
The  same,  Melanges  de  N'umismatique,  vol.  ii.  1877,  pp.  148-152. 

*^  PJinius,  Hist.  Nat.  v.  13.  68 :  opi)iduiu  Ascalo  liberum.  In  the  earlier 
imperial  period  (down  to  the  mildle  of  the  2nd  century  after  Christ) 
Ascalon  used  autonomic  as  well  as  imperial  coins,  the  former  however  of 
only  the  smallest  kind  and  least  value  ;  sec  de  Saulcy,  p.  187. 

82  Tlie  double  date  56  and  102  is  found  on  a  coin  of  Augustus.  On 
another  (in  de  Saulcy,  p.  189,  No.  8),  55  and  102.  The  year  102  is 
according  to  the  usual  era  of  Ascalon  3/2  B.c.  If  however  this,  according 
to  the  second  era  =  55/56,  then  the  year  1  of  this  latter  era  =  57  B.c.  (not 
58,  as  was  before  supposed  on  the  strength  of  the  coin  of  the  year  56). 


V6  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.  THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

those  of  Cleopatra  and  a  Ptolemy,  which  would  point  to 
their  sovereignty  or  claims  to  sovereignty  over  this  region.^*^ 
Ascalon  was  never  in  the  possession  of  Herod  and  his 
successors,  although  it  was  indeed  adorned  with  public 
buildings  by  Herod,^"  who  seems  also  to  have  had  a  palace 
there,  which  after  his  death  passed  into  the  possession  of  his 
sister  Salome.^*  The  ancient  enmity  of  the  Jews  and  Asca- 
lonians  made  the  breaking  out  of  the  Jewish  war  in  A.D.  66 
fatal  for  both.  At  first  Ascalon  was  devastated  by  the 
Jews;^'  then  the  Ascalonians  put  to  death  all  the  Jews 
dwelling  in  their  city,  1500  in  number ;  ^^  finally,  the  Jews 
made  a  second  attack  upon  the  town,  which  was  indeed  easily 
repelled  by  the  Eoman  garrison  stationed  there.^  Ascalon 
long  remained  a  flourishing  Hellenistic  city  with  celebrated 
religious  rites  and  games.^  Many  individuals  famous  in  Greek 
literature  were  natives  of  this  town.^'^ 

5.  Azotus,  "A^o)To<i,  or  Ashdod,  Hebr.  "li^f  ^^,  like  Gaza  and 
Ascalon,  an  old  Philistine  town  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old 

"^^a  De  Saulcy,  Note  sur  quelques  monnaies  inedites  cVAscalon  {Revue 
Numismatique,  1874,  pp.  124-lo5).  Feiiardeut,  the  same,  pp.  184-194. 
Comp.  Bursian's  p/»7oZ.  Jahresbericht,  vii.  467  sq. 

83  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  11. 

8*  Joseph.  Antt.  xvii.  11.  5  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  3.  Comp.  Stark,  p.  542. 
On  the  question,  whether  Herod  was  born  at  Ascalon,  see  above,  §  12. 
De  Saulcy  thinks  the  use  of  certain  supposed  Jewish  symbols  (two  cornu- 
copias crossing  each  other  with  a  lemon  (?)  in  the  middle)  upon  certain 
coins  of  Ascalon  of  the  time  of  Augustus  must  be  referred  to  the  influence 
of  Herod  ;  see  his  Note  sur  quelques  monnaies  d' Ascalon,  in  the  Annuaire  de 
la  Societe  Frangaise  de  Numismatique  et  d'ArcMologie,  iii.  253-258. 

85  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  n.  18.  1.  ^^  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  5. 

^''  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  2.  1,  2.  On  the  enmity  of  the  Ascalonians  to  the 
Jews,  see  also  Philo,  ii.  576,  ed.  JIangey. 

88  The  games  are  mentioned  in  the  inscription  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec.  n. 
4472 ;  Le  Bas  et  WaHdington,  Inscriptiojis,  vol.  iii.  n.  1839  (comp,  above, 
p.  24  sq.).  Ammian.  Marcellin.  xiv.  8.  11  mentions  Caesarea,  Eieuthero- 
polis,  Neapolis,  Ascalon  and  Gaza  as  the  most  important  towns  of  Palestine. 
To  this  very  day  "  the  ruins  of  Ascalon  and  Kaisarieh  are  the  most 
considerable  on  the  whole  coast  from  Ghaseh  to  Berüt "  (Tobler,  Dritte 

Wanderung,  p.  44). 

89  Steph.  Byz.  s.i:  reckons  four  philosophers,  two  grammarians,  and  two 
historians  of  Ascalon  (comp,  above,  p.  25)  ;  and  the  catalogue  is  not  yet 
complete  (see  Reland,  p.  594). 


§  23.    COXSTITUTIOX.       I.  THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  77 

Testament  and  already  known  to  Herodotus,^'^  Ptolemy  speaks 
of  it  as  a  coast  town ;  ^^  Joseplms  at  one  time  as  a  coast,  at 
another  as  an  inland  town.^'  The  latter  is  more  accurate,  for  it 
lay,  as  the  present  Asdud  does,  more  than  a  league  inland,  on 
which  account  "A^coro'i  irapoKio^  is  in  Christian  times  dis- 
tinguished from  "A^o3To<;  fieao'yeco'i.^^  The  district  of  Azotus 
is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Books  of  the  Maccabees ;  but 
no  certain  conclusions  can  be  drawn  therefrom  as  to  its  extent/-*'* 
Nor  are  any  further  details  of  its  fate  under  the  Ptolemies  and 
Seleucidae  known.^'*'*  At  the  time  of  the  rising  of  the  Macca- 
bees Azotus  was  unable  to  maintain  itself  against  Jewish  supre- 
macy, Judas  already  destroyed  its  altars  and  images  (1  Mace. 
V.  68).  Jonathan,  however,  devastated  the  city,  together  with  its 
temple  of  Dagon,  by  fire  (1  Mace.  x.  84,  xi.  4).  At  the  time  of 
Alexander  Jannaeus  the  city,  or  rather  its  ruins,  belonged  to 
the  Jewish  region  (Joseph.  Antt  viii.  15.  4).  Ponipey  again 
separated  it  from  this  latter,  and  made  it  a  free  town  (Anft.  xiv. 
4.  4 ;  Bell.  Jucl.  i.  7.  7).  Put  the  ruined  city  was  not  restored 
till  Gabinius  {Antt.  xiv.  5.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8.  4).  It  possibly 
came,  together  with  the  other  maritime  towns,  under  the 
dominion  of  Herod  (b.c.  30),  from  whom  it  passed  after  his 
death  to  his  sister  Salome  {Antt.  xvii.  8.  1,  11.  5  ;  Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  6.  3).     Whether,  like  Jamnia,  it  fell  after  her  death  to  the 

•JO  Herodot.  ii.  157.  See  on  the  subject  generally,  Reland,  Palaestina, 
pp.  60G-609.  Winer,  RWB.,  s.v.  Asrlod.  Pauly,  Fual-Enc.  i.  2.  2208  sq. 
Kitter,  Erdkunde,  xvi.  94-100,  Rauiuer,  Palast,  p.  174  ;  Tobler,  Dritte 
Wanderung,  pp.  26-32.  Giierin,  .Tudee,  ii.  70-78  ;  The  Survey  of  Western 
Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Condor  and  Kitchener,  ii,  409  sq.,  421  sqq.,  also  sheet 
xvi.  of  the  large  English  ciiart, 

'•'i  Ptolem, 

^^  As  a  coast  town,  Antt.  xiii.  1.'),  4  ;  as  an  inland  town,  Antt.  xiv,  4.  4  ; 
Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7  ;  comp.  Kuhn,  ii.  362,  364. 

"*  Hierocli«,  Synecdemus,  ed.  Parthey  (1866),  p.  43. 

***  1  Mace,  xiv,  34,  xvi,  10. 

^**  On  two  interesting  coins  of  Asdod,  probably  of  the  firet  Diadochian 
period,  see  Georg  Hoffmann  in  Sallet's  Zeitsclir.  Jur  Numismatik,  vol.  ix. 
1882,  p.  96  sq.  The  superscription  of  tiie  coins  is  Hebrew,  bnt  in  Greek 
characters.  On  the  one  is  IP  ASAflA  A2INA,  i.e.  nron  niTJ'S  "i^y  (the 
strong  city  of  Ashdod)  ;  on  the  other  IP  A2  IPO.M  Ii.  i.e.  probably  the 
city  of  Ashdod  in  the  eighth  year  of  Hirom  (the  king  of  the  city). 


78  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.  TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Empress  Livia  is  not  quite  certain,  since  Azotus  is  not  expressly 
named  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  2  ;  Bell.  Jucl.  ii.  9.  1).  It  is  probable 
that  a  considerable  portion  of  its  population  was  Jewish,  on 
which  account  Vespasian  was  obliged,  during  the  Jewish  war, 
to  place  a  garrison  in  it  {Bell.  Jud.  iv.  3.  2).  Coins  of  Azotus 
during  the  Eoman  period  seem  not  to  have  been  preserved.^^ 

6.  Jamnia,  'Id/jiveia,  in  the  Old  Testament  Jabneh,  n^n^ 
(2  Chron.  xxvi.  6),  under  which  name  it  frequently  occurs  in 
Eabbiuic  literature.^*^  Jamnia,  like  Azotus,  is  sometimes  called 
a  maritime,  sometimes  an  inland  town,^''  for  it  lay  consider- 
ably inland,  but  had  a  port.  Both  are  correctly  distinguished 
by  Pliny  and  Ptolemy.^*  There  is  express  testimony  that 
Jamnia  had  a  district. ^^  According  to  Strabo,  it  was  so 
densely  populated  that  Jamnia  and  its  neighbourhood  were 
able  to  furnish  40,000  fighting  men.^^"  In  the  Maccabaean 
period  Jamnia  was — at  least  according  to  the  second  Book  of 
the  Maccabees  —  attacked  by  Judas,  and  its  port  together 
with   the   fleet   burnt.^°^     The   town   itself  however   did  not 

^*  The  coins  with  the  legend  Tvx'i  '  Aauriuv,  which  older  numismatics 
have  referred  to  this  town  (Eckhel,  iii.  448  ;  Mionnet,  v.  534  ;  Syppl. 
viii.  370),  are  rightly  denied  to  belong  to  it  by  de  Saulcy  (JS'umlsm.  p. 
282  sq.),  even  on  account  of  the  <r  instead  of  ^  [also  in  the  Pseudo-Aristeas 
'  Aauriav  x^^pi*"  is,  according  to  ^for.  Schmid  in  Merx's  Archiv,  i.  275,  6,  the 
correct  reading,  instead  of  '  A^art'cov  ;<;«p«v]. 

'■">  Misbna,  Shekalim  i.  4  ;  Rosh  hashana  ii.  8,  9,  iv.  1,  2  ;  Kethuboth  iv.  6  ; 
Sanhedrin  xi.  4 ;  Edujoth  ii.  4  ;  Aboth  iv.  4  ;  Bechorolh  iv.  5,  vi.  8 ; 
Kelim  V.  4 ;  Para  vii.  6.  For  the  passages  of  the  Tosefta,  see  the  index 
to  Zuckermandel's  edition  (1882).  Neubauer,  La  GeograpMe  du  Talmud, 
1868,  pp.  73-76. 

3^  Maritime  town,  Antt.  xviii.  15.  4.  Inland  town,  Antt.  iv.  4.  4 ;  BeU. 
Jud.  i.  7.  7  ;  comp.  Kuhn,  ii.  362  sq. 

öS  Plinius,  H.  N.  v.  13.  68 :  Jamneae  duae,  altera  intus.  Ptolem.  v.  16.  2  : 
'luf^uiiTuu  7.t^'/iu\  V.  16.  6:  '  loci^viiot.  See  generally,  Pieland,  p.  823  sq. 
Winer,  RWB.^s.v.  "  Jabne."  Pauly,  Real-Enc.  iv.  17.  Raumer,  p.  203  sq. 
Ritter,  xvi.  125  sq.  Tobler,  Dritte  Wanderung,  pp.  20-25.  Guerin,  Judee, 
ii.  53-65.  The  Sm-vey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener, 
ii.  414,  441-433  ;  also  sheet  xvi.  of  the  large  English  chart. 

^'•^  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  5  :  '  Jii.f<,viiat  kxI  ' loV)?  ruu  -Trspio'iKav  »(p^yci i'-xt. 

^00  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  759.     Strabo   here   indeed   erroneously  calls  Jamnia 

^01  2  Mace.  xii.  8  sq.,  40  ;  comp.  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  487. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION,       I.  THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS,  79 

come  into  the  possession  of  the  Jews  either  then,  or,  as 
Josephus  asserts,  under  Simon.-^°^  It  was  not  till  Alexander 
Januaeus  that  it  formed  a  portion  of  the  Jewish  territory  (Antt. 
xiii.  15.  4).  Pompey  again  separated  it  from  the  latter  (Antt. 
xiv.  4.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7),  Gabinins  restored  it.  Like  Azotns, 
Jamnia  must  also  have  come  into  the  possession  of  Herod, 
since  it  was  left  by  him  to  his  sister  Salome  {Antt.  xvii.  8.  1, 
11,  5  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  3).  The  Empress  Livia  received  it 
from  the  latter  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  2  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  9.  1),  and  after 
her  death  it  seems  to  have  become  a  private  possession  of 
Tiberius  {Antt.  xviii.  6.  3;  see  above,  p.  55).  The  population 
was  then  a  mixed  one  of  Jews  and  heathen,  but  with  a  pre- 
ponderance of  the  Jewish  element. -^"^  This  explains  the  fact, 
that  Vespasian  twice  found  himself  obliged  to  garrison  the 
city,^°*  and  that  Jamnia,  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
soon  became  a  headquarter  of  Jewish  learning. 

7.  Joppa,  'loirr)  or  'Iottttt)^^^  Hebr,  is^/*"'  the  present  Jaffa. 

^<*-  Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  6.  6  ;  BtU.  Jud.  L  2.  2.  See,  on  the  other  hand, 
1  Mace.  X.  69,  xv.  40. 

103  Philo,  Lef/at.  ad  Ca/'um,  §  30  (Mang.  ii.  575)  :  to-'jtvj  lUr/xli;  o'ucwtiu 
01  ttXe/owj  f/Au  lovOxiot,  iTspoi  dk  rivig  oiXKoi^vT^ot  T^xpeia^äxpiun;  «to  tuu 
-7r?.r,<7iox,üpü)i/.  Ol  Tol;  rpo'rvov  ztv»  ctiidr/iAdtu  ourz.;  yAroiKot,  y.u,y..oi  k»1  'Trcu.y- 
(^.xrct  ■roi.tikyjtv'jiv,  aiti  rt  'Trupa.T^vdun;  rüv  TrctTpiuv  lovosiioi;.  Philo,  indeeJ, 
by  here  assigning  the  part  of  natives  to  the  Jews,  and  that  of  metoikoi.  to 
the  heathen,  reverses  the  true  order  of  things.  For  even  in  the  Maccabaean 
period  Jamnia  was  a  chiefly  heathen  city,  nor  was  it  till  afterwards  that  its 
Jewish  element  increased. 

104  Joseph.  Bell.  .hid.  iv.  3.  2,  8.  1. 

105  The  orthography  fluctuates.  In  the  texts  of  non-biblical  authors  the 
form  'löVii,  which  is  required  by  Greek  graniuiarians,  is  preferred  (see 
Movers,  Phönicicr.,  ii.  2.  176,  note  73.  Mendelssohn  in  Ritschl's  Ada  societ. 
pMlol.  Lips.  vol.  V.  p.  104)  and  corroborated  by  the  usage  of  poets 
(Alexander  Ephesias  in  Stcph.  Byz.,  ed.  Meiueke,  p.  255 :  Aup6;  r  dy^loLt^og 
r  'loV>j  Trpovycova*  doi'K»<j(rr,;,  also  Dionys.  Pcrieg.  in  Müller,  Gcnfjr.  gr.  mtn. 
ii.  ICO:  o'tr  'loV>i»  kxI  Tui^ccv  'E'Axi'oct  r  Ivuxiovut).  The  biblical  manu- 
scripts, on  the  contrary,  have,  as  it  appears,  universally  'IoVtdj,  whether  in 
the  Old  or  New  Testament  (1  ^laccabeos  and  Acts).  Of  the  few  coins  that 
have  been  preserved  some  have  one,  some  the  other  form.  The  Greek  '  leVyj 
is  related  to  is^  as  'Ax»  is  to  isy  But  it  might  also  arise  from  the  form  *£^ 
(concluding  with  Jod),  as  the  name  is  given  on  the  inscription  of  Eschmun- 
azar.     See  Schlottmann,  Die  Inschrift  EscJuniinazars  (1868).  p.  150  sqq. 

106  Josh.   xix.   46 ;  Jonah  i.  3  ;  2  Chron.  ii.    15 ;  Ezra  iii.  7.      Mishna, 


80  §  23.    CONSTITÜTIOX,       I.  TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

The  special  importance  of  Joppa  is  found  in  the  fact  that  it 
was  comparatively  the  best  harbour  on  the  coast  of  Palestme.^^' 
It  was  therefore  at  almost  all  periods  the  chief  place  of 
debarkation  for  the  interior  of  Judaea,  and  its  possession, 
especially  on  the  greater  development  of  trade  and  commerce 
in  later  times,  was  almost  a  vital  question  for  the  Jews.  In 
the  Persian  period,  and  indeed  in  the  time  of  the  Sidonian 
King  Eschmunazar,  Joppa  was  granted  to  the  Sidonians  by 
the  "  Lord  of  Kings,"  i.e.  by  the  Persian  monarch.^^'*  To  the 
Greeks  it  was  chiefly  known  as  the  scene  of  the  myth  of 
Perseus  and  Andromeda,  and  is  mentioned  as  such  even  before 
the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  by  Scylax  (see  above,  p.  1 5). 
In  the  Diadochian  period  it  seems  to  have  been  an  important 
arsenal.  When  Antigonus  wrested  Coelesyria  from  Ptolemy 
Lagos,  he  was  obHged  to  take  Joppa  as  well  as  other  places 
by  force.^^^  And  when,  three  years  later  (312  b.c.),  Ptolemy 
Lagos  found  he  could  not  hold  the  reconquered  region  against 
Antigonus,  he  had  Joppa  razed  on  his  retreat  as  one  of  the 
more  important  fortresses. ^"^      In  the  time  of  the  Maccabees 

Nedarini  iii.  6  ;  Tosefta,  Demai  i,  11  (ed,  Zuckermandel,  p.  46,  1). 
Neubauer,  La  Geographie  du  Talmud,  p.  81  sq. 

10''  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  9.  3  indeed  describes  the  harbour  as  dangerous, 
•which  it  still  is.  It  miist,  however,  have  been  comparatively  the  best. 
According  to  Diodor.  i.  13,  there  was  but  one  safe  harbour  («(/^«x^  "KiyAva), 
viz.  the  Pharos  of  Alexandria  from  Paraetonium  in  Libya  to  Jopa  iu 
Coelesyria.  Strabo  too  (xvi.  p.  759)  rightly  gives  prominence  to  the  import- 
ance of  Joppa  as  a  port  for  Judaea.  See  especially  1  Mace.  xiv.  5.  Compare 
on  the  subject  in  general,  Reland,  pp.  864-867.  Winer,  R  WB.  Pauly,  Recd- 
Enc.  Schenkel,  Bihellex.  s.v.  Ritter,  xvi.  574-580,  Raumer,  p.  204  sq. 
Tobler,  Topographie  von  Jerusalem,  ii.  576-637.  Sepp,  Jerusalem  (2nd  ed.), 
i.  1-22.  Guerin,  Jud^e,  i.  1-22  Bädeker-Socin.,  Palästina  (1st  ed.), 
p.  131  sqq.,  with  plan.  Schwarz,  Jafa  und  Umgebung,  mit  Plan  (Zeitschr. 
d.  deutschen  Pal.-Ver.  iii.  44  sqq.).  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine, 
Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  iL  254-258,  275-278  ;  also  sheet  xiii. 
of  the  large  English  chart. 

1"'^  See  the  inscription  of  Eschmunazar,  line  18-19,  and  Schlottmann, 
as  above,  pp.  83-147  sqq.  The  text  is  best  given  in  the  Corpus  Inscrip* 
tionum  Semiticarum,  vol.  i.  (1881)  pp.  9-20. 

^"8  Diodor.  xix.  59.  Comp.  Droysen,  Hellenismus,  ii.  2.  11.  Stark,  Gaza. 
p.  350. 

10**  Diodor.  xix.  93.     Comp.  Droysen,  ii.  2.  54.    Stark,  p.  355  sq. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  8] 

the  efforts  of  the  Jews  were  especially  directed  to  obtain 
possession  of  this  important  place.  It  is  true  that  Judas 
Maccabaeus  —  if  the  account  is  quite  trustworthy  —  only 
destroyed  the  port  and  fleet  of  Joppa  during  a  nocturnal 
attack  (2  Mace.  xii.  3-7).  Jonathan  however,  in  the  year 
147  or  146  B.c.,  made  a  .serious  assault  of  the  town,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  inhabitants  opened  the  gates  to  him 
and  forced  the  Syrian  garrison  to  depart  (1  Mace.  x.  75,  76). 
Thenceforward  the  Jews  remained  with  but  slight  inter- 
mission in  possession  of  the  town  till  the  time  of  Pompey. 
From  the  same  period  also  must  be  dated  the  Judaizing  of  the 
city.  For  when,  a  few  years  after  its  conquest  by  Jonathan, 
the  inhabitants  showed  signs  of  again  surrendering  the  town 
to  the  Syrians,  Simon,  the  brother  of  Jonathan,  stationed  a 
Jewish  garrison  in  it  (1  Mace.  xii.  .33,  34)  and  compelled  the 
heathen  inhabitants  to  leave  the  town  (1  Mace,  xiii,  11: 
e^eßaXe  rov^  oWa?  iv  avrf))}^^  Simon  then  enlarged  and 
improved  the  harbour  and  fortified  the  town  (1  Mace.  xiv.  5,34). 
"When  the  energetic  Antiochus  VII.  (Sidetes)  endeavoured 
again  to  retrench  the  power  of  the  Jew\s,  the  possession  of 
Joppa  was  a  main  point  of  dispute.  Even  while  Antiochus 
was  contending  with  Trypho,  he  demanded  from  Simon  the 
surrender  of  Joppa  (1  Mace.  xv.  28-30).  The  latter  however 
declared  himself  only  ready  to  pay  a  sum  of  money  instead 
(1  Mace.  XV.  35).  "When,  some  years  later,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  John  Hyrcanus,  all  Palestine  was  conquered 
and  even  Jerusalem  besieged  by  Antiochus,  it  is  probable 
that  Joppa  had  already  been  taken  by  him.  He  was 
nevertheless  satisfied  at  the  conclusion  of  a  peace  with  the 
payment  of  a  tribute  for  Joppa  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  8.  3)."* 
Thus  the  town  continued  in  the  possession  of  the  Jews,  and 

^^^  Comp.  Stark,  p.  493  sq.  A  similar  procedure  was  observed  towards 
Gazara. 

'^^  The  seizure  of  Joppa  by  an  Antiochus  is  assumed  in  two  Roman 
Senatus-consultus,  in  the  latter  of  which  its  surrender  is  commanded  liim 
by  the  Roman  Senate  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  9.  2,  xiv.  10.  22).  Perhaps  this 
DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  F 


82  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I,    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

in  later  times  even  the  payment  of  the  tribute  ceased.  There 
is  express  testimony  that  Alexander  Jannaeus  possessed  Joppa 
{Antt.  xiii.  15.  4).  This  maritime  city  was  however  taken  by 
Pompey  from  the  Jews,  who  were  thus  entirely  cut  off  from 
the  sea  {Antt.  xiv.  4.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7).  Among  the  favours 
bestowed  by  Caesar  on  the  Jews  one  of  the  most  valuable  was 
the  restoration  of  Joppa  {Antt.  xiv.  10.  6).""  It  is  not  quite 
certain  whether  Herod  held  Joppa  from  the  first.  At  any 
rate,  like  the  other  coast  towns,  it  belonged,  during  the  years 
34-30  B.c.,  to  Cleopatra  (see  above,  §  15),  and  thenceforth  to 
Herod  {Antt.  xv.  7.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  20.  3)."^  From  this  time 
it  was  always  united  with  Judaea  proper,  and  hence  passed 
after  Herod's  death  to  Archelaus  {Avitt.  xvii.  11.  4;  Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  6.  3),  and  was  after  his  deposition  under  Eonian  procurators. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  war,  Joppa  was,  by  reason  of 
its  mainly  Jewish  population,  a  central  seat  of  rebellion. 
It  was  destroyed  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  by  Cestius 
Gallus  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  10),  but  soon  fortified  again  and 
conquered  a  second  time  by  Vespasian  {Bell.  Jud.  iii.  9.  2-4). 
From  that  time  it  probably  again  became  a  chiefly  heathen 
town.  It  is  shown  by  a  coin  recently  discovered,  that  it  was 
also  called  Flavia,  which  leads  to  the  inference  of  its  re- 
foundation in  the  time  of  Vespasian."^'"^  Notwithstanding  its 
close  connection  with  Judaea,  Joppa  formed  an  independent 

explains  the  striking  leniency  of  Antiochus  in  the  conditions  of  peace.  It 
is  however  just  questionable,  whether  Antiochus  Sidetes  is  meant. 

112  For  further  details,  see  above,  §  15. 

iiä  The  Jews  having  been  in  possession  of  Joppa  since  Caesar,  and  it 
being  expressly  said  of  Joppa,  that  Herod  conquered  it  when  he  took 
possession  of  liis  kingdom  {Auii.  xiv.  15.  1  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  15.  3,  4),  it  must 
be  supposed  that  it  was  his  from  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  and  that  he 
then  obtained  it  again  in  the  year  30,  after  the  short  interregnum  of 
Cleopatra.  The  only  difficulty  is,  that  at  the  enlargement  of  his  domains 
in  the  year  30,  Joppa  is  named,  not  as  a  portion  of  the  domains  again 
bestowed  on  Herod,  but  expressly  as  among  the  towns  neioly  bestowed 
besides  these. 

113a  Darricarrere,  Suj-  une  mormaic  ineditc  ele  Joppe  {Eevite  archeologique, 
nouv.  Serie,  vol.  xliii.  1882,  p.  74  sq.).  The  coin  is  of  the  time  of  Elaga- 
balus,  and  bears  the  inscription  :  lo'TTTr/Ji  ^Phaovix;. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.         83 

political  community  after  the  manner  of  Hellenistic  towns."* 
Of  its  coins  few  specimens  have  been  preserved.^^^ 

8.  Apollonia,  ^AiroWwvla.  An  Apollonia  between  Joppa 
and  Caesarea  is  mentioned  by  geographers  down  to  the  later 
imperial  period."^  It  occurs  only  twice  in  history :  at  the 
time  of  Alexander  Jannaeus,  when  it  belonged  to  the  Jewish 
region  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4),  and  at  the  time  of  Gabinius, 
who  restored  it  (Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8.  4).  According  to  the 
statement  of  distance  in  the  Peutinger  table  (22  m.  p.  from 
Caesarea)  it  must  have  been  situate  where  the  present  Arsuf 
is.'^^^  Stark's  supposition,  that  it  is  identical  with  Xw^ovcra, 
is  commended  by  the  circumstance,  that  in  Cyrenaica  also  an 
Apollonia  and  a  Sozusa  appear,  which  are  probably  identical. 
Sozusa  would  thus  be  the  town  of  Apollo  XonTrjp}^^  The 
name  Apollonia  makes  it  probable,  that  it  was  founded  by 
Seleucus  I.  in  the  time  of  the  definitive  occupation  of  Coelesyria 
by  the  Ptolemies."^ 

^1*  This  appears  cliiefly  from  the  manner  in  which  Josephus  (Bell.  Jud, 
iii.  3.  5)  mentions  Joppa  hcside  Judaea  proper:  fud''  »;  ^Ixfivetx  kxI  'Iottyi 
Tuv  TTiptoiKuu  d(pnyovvTxi.  In  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  9.  4  also,  the  x.u^xi  and 
■TvOAxvcti  TJj?  '  loVjjf  are  mentioned. 

11°  Eckhel,  Docir.  Num.  iii.  433.  Mionnet,  v.  499.  De  Saulcy,  p.  176  sq., 
pi.  ix.  n.  3,  4.  Reichardt,  Numismatic  Chronicle,  1862,  p.  Ill ;  and  Wiener 
Numismat.  Monatshefte,  published  by  Egger,  a'oI.  iii.  1867,  p.  192. 
Darricarrere,  as  above. 

116  Plinius,  //.  N.  V.  13.  69.  Ptolem.  v.  16.  2.  Tahula  Peutinger.  Segm. 
ix.  Geographus  liavennas,  ed.  Pinder  et  Parthey  (1860),  pp.  83  and  356. 
Guidonis  Geogr.  in  the  above-named  edition  of  the  Geogr.  Ravcnn.  p.  524. 
Steph.  Byz.,  s.v.  'AxoTiXwy/«,  reckons  twenty-five  towns  of  this  name, 
No.  12  among  them:  inpl  rijv  Koiy^nv  Ivplatv;  No.  13:  x-xra.  ^lö'yry.'j  (this 
being  the  one  now  in  question)  ;  No.  20  :  2vptxg  kxtx  '  A-Trxfuixi'. 

11^  See  in  general,  Reland,  p.  573.  Ritter,  xvi.  590.  Pauly's  Enc.  i.  2. 
1308.  Kuhn,  ii.  362.  Gueriu,  Samarie,  ii.  375-382.  The  Survey  of  Wcslcrn 
Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii.  135,  137-140  (with  plan)  ; 
also  sheet  x.  of  the  large  English  chart.  De  Saulcy,  Numismatique, 
p.  110  sq.,  pi.  vi.  n.  1,  2. 

11^  'S.öj^ovax  in  Hierocles,  ed.  Parthey,  p.  44.  Comp.  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  452. 
On  Sozusa  in  Cyrenaica,  Forbinger,  Ilandh.  ii.  829. 

11^  Appian.  Syr.  57  does  not  indeed  mention  our  town,  but  speaks 
of  Apollonia  as  a  Macedonian  town  -  name  transplanted  into  Syria  by 
Seleucus  I.     Comp.  Stark,  as  above. 


84  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

9.  StratorCs  Tower,  Xrpdjoivo'i  7rvpyo<i,  afterwards  Caesarea.^^ 
Like  Apollonia,  Straton's  Tower  may  have  been  a  foundation 
of  the  Hellenistic  period,  perhaps  at  first  a  castle,  so  called 
after  a  general  of  the  Ptolemies.  It  is  however  possible,  that 
it  was  founded  towards  the  end  of  the  Persian  period  by  a 
Sidonian  king  of  the  name  of  Straton.^^^  Artemidorus,  about 
100  B.c.,  is  the  first  geograpliical  author  by  whom  it  is 
mentioned.-^^'  At  that  period  too  it  first  occurs  in  history, 
being  mentioned  in  the  time  of  Aristobulus  I.,  104  B.c.  (Aiitt. 
xiii.  11.  2).  In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Alexander 
Jannaeus,  a  "  tyrant,"  Zoilus  was  master  of  Straton's  Tower  and 

^20  See  generally,  Reland,  pp.  670-678.  Eaumer,  p.  152  sq.  Winer, 
RWB.,  and  Scheukel's  Bibellex.  s.v.  Caesarea.  Pauly,  Real-Enc.  ii.  47. 
Kuhn,  Die  siädt.  und  bürgerl.  Verfassung,  ii.  347-350.  The  same,  Uehcr 
die  Entstehung  der  Städte  der  Alten  (1878),  pp.  423-433.  Ritter,  xvi.  598- 
607.  Sepp,  Jerusalem  (2nd  ed.),  ii.  573  sqq.  Guerin,  Samarie,  ii.  321. 
The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii.  13-29 
(with  plans),  ako  sheet  vii.  of  the  English  chart. 

121  In  Justinian's  Novelle  103  praef.  it  is  said  of  Caesarea :  Kuhoi  ye 
ccDXfi'cc  7S  iari  x-ctl  »tl  asfcw/i,  i]:/lx.x  rs  »vr'/iu  '^rpxruu  iopvaxro  TrpuTog,  og  kS, 
'EAAacoj  dvaarx;  yiyoysv  cn-vrvj;  ciKiiyrY,;  '/jvikx  ri  OueaTrxaiavo;  .  .  .  si;  rviu 
ruu  KuKTOipoj!/  cci/T'/iV  Jjvofixas  Trpoayiyopictv.  The  worthlessness  of  this  notice 
is  shown  already  by  the  gross  mistake  with  respect  to  Vespasian.  As  there 
was  a  Strato7is  Island  on  the  Abyssinian  coast  of  the  Red  Sea  (Strabo,  xvi. 
p.  770),  Straton's  Tower  may  have  been  a  foundation  of  the  Ptolemies.  So 
Stark,  Gaza,  p.  451.  To  me  however  it  seems  almost  more  probable,  that 
it  was  founded  by  the  Sidonians.  For  towards  the  end  of  the  Persian 
period  they  were  in  possession  of  the  nearest  towns  both  northward  and 
southward,  viz.  Dora  and  Joppa  (which  see),  and  therefore  presumably  of 
the  strip  of  coast  also  upon  which  Straton's  Tower  was  built.  Straton 
moreover  was  the  name  of  one  or  more  of  the  last  kings  of  Sidon  (see 
Corp.  Inscr.  Graec.  n.  87,  and  also  Bockh).  At  any  rate  its  designation  as 
■TTvpyog,  tower,  is  not  usual  for  a  town  of  Hellenistic  foundation.  Lastly,  L. 
Müller  thmks,  that  a  coin  of  Alexander  the  Great  with  the  letters  2t  may 
be  referred  to  our  Straton's  Tower  (L.  Müller,  Numismatique  d' Alexandre 
le  Grand,  p.  306,  plates,  n.  1466),  in  which  case  it  must  already  have 
been  in  existence  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  or  at  latest  in  the 
Diadochian  period  (in  which  also  coins  of  Alexander  were  issued).  All 
this  combined  favours  the  view,  that  it  was  already  founded  by  the 
Sidonians. 

1-2  Artemidorus  in  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Aupog  (on  Artemidorus,  see  Forbiger, 
Handbuch  der  alten  Geographie,  i.  246  sqq.,  255  sqq.  Pauly's  Enc.  s.v.). 
The  latest  geographer  who  knows  of  Straton's  Tower  by  that  name  only  is 
Strabo,  xvi.  p.  758. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  85 

Dora  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  1 2.  2).  He  was  soon  overthrown  by- 
Alexander  Jannaeus  (Antt.  xiii.  12.  4),  and  hence  Straton's 
Tower  is  named  among  the  towns  belonging  to  Alexander 
(Antt.  xiii.  15.  4).  It  obtained  its  freedom  from  Pompey 
(Antt.  xiv.  4.  4  ;  Bell.  Jitd.  i.  7.  7).  It  was  bestowed  upon 
Herod  by  Augustus  (Antt.  xv.  7.  3  ;  Bell.  Jucl.  i.  20.  3),  and 
from  this  period  dates  the  special  importance  of  the  town. 
For  it  was  rebuilt  on  the  most  magnificent  scale  by  Herod, 
and  provided  with  artificial  embankments  and  an  excellent 
harbour  (Antt.  xv.  9.  6,  xvi.  5.  1;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  5-8).^23 
He  called  the  town  Kaiadpeia  in  honour  of  the  emperor,  and 
the  harbour  Xeßaaro'^  Xifxi'jvP^  Hence  on  Nero's  coins  we 
meet  with  Kaiaapta  rj  7rpo<;  ^eßaa-Tco  Xi^evt.^^^  The  designa- 
tion Kaia-dpeua  Seßaar/]  occurs  only  once.^"*'  Elsewhere 
the  town  is  called  in  distinction  from  others  Kacadpeia 
XTpdTwvo<;}^^  and  in  later  times  Kaiadpeta  Tr]<i  TlakaKnivr]';}'^^ 
It  quickly  attained  to  great  prosperity,  and  remained  for  a 
long  period  one  of  the  most  important  towns  of  Palestine.*^® 
After  the  death  of  Herod  it  passed  with  the  rest  of  Judaea  to 

123  Besides  the  above  principal  passages,  compare  also  Joseph.  Antt.  xv. 
8.  5.  Flinius,  v.  13.  69.  On  tlie  time  of  its  building,  see  above,  §  15.  On 
its  constitution  and  political  position,  see  especially  Kuhn's  above-named 
work. 

12*  On  the  latter,  see  Antt.  xvii.  5.  1  ;  Bdl.  .TwI.  i.  31.  3. 

125  These  coins  are  fully  treated  of  by  Belley  in  the  Memoires  de  VAcarUmie 
des  Inscriptions  et  Belles- Lettres,  old  series,  vol.  xxvi.  1759,  pp.  440-445. 
Comp,  also  Eckhel,  iii.  428  sq.  Mionnet,  Description,  v.  486  sq.  De 
Saulcy,  Numismatiqite,  p.  116  sq. 

1-'^  Joseph.  Antt.  xvi.  5. 1.  Philo,  Legat,  ad  Cajnm,  §  38,  ed.  Mang.  ii.  590. 
The  designation  Avyovara  Kcitaccottx  occurring  on  an  inscription  (Corp. 
Inscr.  Grace,  n.  4472  =  Lt'  Bus  et  \Vaddington,  Inscriptions,  vol.  üi.  n.  1839) 
is  an  abbreviation  of  colonia  prima  Flavia  Augusta  Caesarea,  the  official  title 
of  Caesarea  as  a  colony  since  Vespasian  ;  see  below,  p.  87,  and  Kuhn,  ii.  349. 

1"  Ptolem.  V.  16.  2,  viii.  20.  14.  Clement.  Homil.  i.  15,  20,  xiii.  7 ; 
Recogn.  i.  12.  Le  Bas  et  AVaddingtoii,  Inscriptions,  vol.  iii.  n.  1620**  (In- 
scription of  Aphrodisias  in  Caiia  of  the  second  century  after  Christ,  comp, 
above,  p.  24). 

128  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lagarde,  pp.  207,  250.    De  martyr.  Pakstinne,  i.  2. 

^29  Joseph.  Bell.  .lud.  iii.  9.  1.  Clement.  Reco(jn.  i.  12.  Apollonius,  Ttjan. 
epist.  xi.  (in  Epistohnp-aphi  graeci,  ed.  Hercher,  Paris  1873,  Didot).  Totius 
orhis  descriptio  in  Müller,  G'eogr.  gr.  minores,  ii.  517.     Ammian.  xiv.  p.  11. 


86  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Archelaus  {Äntt.  xvii.  11.  4;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  3).  It  after- 
wards continued  on  all  occasions  united  with  Judaea,  and 
hence  came  after  the  deposition  of  Archelaus  under  Koman 
procurators,  then  under  Agrippa  I.,  and  then  again  under 
procurators.  Coins  of  Agrippa  I.,  which  were  coined  in 
Caesarea,  are  still  in  existence.^^^  His  arparrj'yo'i  in  Caesarea 
is  incidentally  mentioned  (Antt.  xix.  7.  4).  It  is  well  known 
that  he  himself  died  there  (see  above,  §  18),  He  was 
hated  by  the  Caesareans  for  his  Judaizing  tendencies  {Antt. 
xix.  9.  1).  The  Eoman  procurators,  both  before  and  after  the 
reign  of  Agrippa,  took  up  their  abode  at  Caesarea  (see  above, 
§  IT*').  Hence  the  town  is  called  in  Tacitus,  Judaeae  cap7it 
(Tac.  Hist.  ii.  78).  It  was  also  the  chief  garrison  for  the 
troops  under  the  command  of  the  procurators,  who  were  for 
the  most  part  composed  of  natives  (see  above,  p.  65),  The 
population  being  chiefly  a  heathen  one  (Bell.  Jud.  iii.  9.  1), 
though  mingled  with  a  considerable  Jewish  fraction,  disputes 
easily  occurred,  and  the  more  so  that  both  had  equal  civil 
rights,  and  had  therefore  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the 
town  in  common,^^"'^  Neither  the  Jews  nor  the  heathen 
were  satisfied  with  this  state  of  things.  Each  of  these  parties 
claimed  the  exclusive  government  of  the  town.  Already 
towards  the  close  of  the  official  career  of  Felix  there  were 
sanguinary  contests  on  the  subject,  in  consequence  of  which 
Nero,  whose  adviser  had  been  bribed  by  the  heathen  party, 
deprived  the  Jews  of  their  equality  of  right,  and  declared  the 
heathen  sole  governors  of  the  town.  The  exasperation  which 
ensued  gave  the  first  inducement  to  the  great  rising  of  the 
Jews  in  a.D.  66  {Antt.  xx.  8.  7  and  9  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  13.  7, 
14.  4,  5).     After  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  the  Jews,  as 

130  Eckhel,  iii.  491, 492.  Madden,  Historij  of  Jewish  Coinage,  pp.  107, 109. 
The  same,  Coins  of  the  Jews  (1881),  pp.  13-3,  136.  Tlie  coins  with  the  legend 
Kuiaecpua.;  «o-vTiovare  rightly  denied  by  Eckhel  to  belong  to  our  Caesarea. 

130a  Xhe  ävapig  oi  x-mr  i^c^vfJ  T~/ig  ■^o'Asiyj,  mentioned  Acts  xxv.  23,  must 
according  to  the  context  be  regarded  as  heathen.  This  however  does  not 
exclude  Jews  from  a  share  in  the  government,  but  merely  corresponds  with 
the  preponderance  of  the  heathen  element  testified  to  by  Josephus. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  87 

tlie  minority,  fell  victims  to  the  fury  of  the  heathen  populace. 
It  is  said  that  all  the  Jewish  inhabitants,  20,000  in  numher, 
were  then  assassinated  in  an  hour  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1,  vii.  8. 
7,  ed.  Bekker,  p.  161).  Caesarea  was  changed  by  Vespasian 
into  a  Eoman  colony,  though  without  the  full  jus  ItalicumP^ 
On  coins  it  bears  the  title  col{pnia)  prima  Fl{avia)  Äug{ustc() 
Caesarensis  or  Caesarea.  To  this  was  added  after  the  time 
of  Alexander  Severus  the  title  metropolis,  or  as  it  is  more 
completely  given  on  coins  after  Decius,  metropolis,  pr.  S.  Pal. 
(  =  provinciae  Syriac  PalaestinaeP'^ 

10.  Dora,  Awpa,  in  Polybius  Aovpa,  elsewhere  also  Awpo<;, 
in    Pliny,  Dorum}^^  Hebr.  in  or  ixi,^^*  an  old    Phoenician 

^^^  Plinius,  //.  iV.  V.  13.  69  :  Stratonis  turris,  eadem  Caesarea,  ab  Herode 
rege  condita,  nunc  colonia  prima  Flavia  a  Vespasiano  iinperatore  dediicta. 
Digest,  lib.  xv.  8.  7  (from  Paulus):  Divus  Vespasianus  Caesarieuses  colonos 
fecit  non  adjecto,  ut  et  juris  Italici  esseut,  sed  tributum  his  reuiisit  capitis  ; 
sed  divus  Titus  etiam  solum  immune  factum  iuterpretatus  est.  Ihid.  lib.  xv. 
1.  6  (from  Ulpianus):  In  Palacstina  duae  fnerunt  coloniae,  Cae.?ariensis  et 
Aelia  Capitolina,  sed  neutra  jus  Italioum  habet.  Comp.  Zuuipt,  Cnmmcn- 
tatimies  epigr.  i.  397  sq.  Ou  the  ju.s  Italicum,  see  Jfarquardt,  Römische 
Staatsverwaltung,  i.  89  sqq.  (1881).  and  the  literature  therein  cited,  p.  89, 
note  7,  to  which  is  to  be  added :  Beaudouin,  Etude  stir  le  .Jus  italicum, 
Paris  (1883).     Comp.  Revue  critique,  1884,  No.  6,  pp.  99-101. 

132  On  the  coins  in  general,  see  Eckhel,  iii.  428-442.  Miouuet,  v.  486- 
497  ;  Suppl.  viii.  334-348.     De  Saulcy,  pp.  112-141,  pi.  vii. 

'33  The  form  Awpo;  occurs  especially  in  older  authors,  but  is  also 
preferred  by  Steph.  Byz.  Aws«  was  afterwards  exclusively  used.  (1) 
Aupoi  is  found  in  Scylax  (fourth  century  B.c.),  ApoUodorus  (about  140 
HjC.),  Alexander  Ephesias  (see  on  him  Pauly's  Enc.  s.v.  Alex.  n.  40), 
Charax  (the  three  last  named  in  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Aupo;).  To  this  series 
belongs  also  Pliny  (H.  N.  v.  19.  75,  Dorum).  (2)  AaJo««  or  Awo«  found 
besides  in  1  Mace,  in  Artemidorus  (about  100  B.c.),  Claudius  Jolaus  (both 
in  Steph.  Byz.),  Josephus  (constantly),  ou  coins  of  Caligula,  Trajan,  Ela- 
gabalus  (in  De  Saulcy),  Ptolemaeus  (v.  1.5.  5),  Clement.  Recogn.  (iv.  1), 
Eusebius  (Onom.,  ed.  Lag.  p.  250),  Hieronymus  (the  same,  p.  115), 
Hierocles  (ed.  Parthey,  p.  43),  the  lists  of  bishops  (in  Le  Qiiien,  Oriens 
Christ,  iii.  574  sqq.),  Gcograjihiis  Ravcnnas  (ed.  Pinder  et  Parthey,  pp.  89, 
357).  To  this  series  belong  also  Polybius  (v.  66,  Advpa)  and  Tab.  Pcvting. 
^Thora).  Comp,  also  note  136,  below.  The  first  Book  of  the  Maccabees 
uses  A<u/)Äindecl.,  it  is  elsewhere  treated  as  a  neut.  plur.  (Josephus  usually; 
Eusebiu.?,  p.  280,  the  lists  of  bisliop.s)  ;  sometimes  also  as  a  fem.  sing. 
(Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  7.  2 ;  c.  Apinn.  ii.  9.      Clement.  Recogn.  iv.  1). 

"*  nn.  Josh.  xi.  2,  xii.  23  ;  Judg.  i.  27  ;  1  Chron.  vii.  29.     "iN'n,  Josh. 


88  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

settlement  8  or  9  miles  north  of  Caesarea.^^^  It  was  known 
from  ancient  times  to  the  Greeks,  being  already  mentioned 
by  Hecataeus  of  Miletus,  who  lived  500  years  before  Christ, 
in  his  description  of  the  eartli,^^^  Nay,  it  is  possible  that  it 
may,  during  the  hegemony  of  Athens  in  the  Mediterranean  in 
the  5th  century  B.c.,  have  been  tributary  to  the  Atheniaus.^^*^^ 
In  the  time  of  the  Sidonian  King  Eshmunazar  it  was  granted 
to  the  Sidoniaus  by  the  "  Lord  of  Kings,"  i.e.  by  the  Persian 
monarch.^^'^     Hence  Scylax,  whose  description  refers  to  the 

xvii.  11 ;  1  Kings  iv.  11.  Also  upon  the  inscription  of  Eshmunazar,  see 
below,  note  137.  In  the  0.  T.  nil  riQ3  (Josh.  xii.  23  ;  1  Kings  iv.  11)  or 
"in  niSJ  (Josh.  xi.  2),  properly  the  height  or  heights  of  Dor,  and  therefore 
probably  the  hill  country,  which  lay  inland  from  Dor,  is  distinguished  from 
the  town  of  Dor  (see  Riehm's  Wörterbuch,  s.v.).  Only  the  former  and  not 
the  maritime  town  was  possessed  by  Solomon.  Less  probable  is  Movers' 
notion  {Phönickr,  ii.  2.  175  sq.),  that  Naphath-Dor  is  distinguished  as  an 
inland  town  from  Dor  as  a  coast  town. 

13^  The  foundation  by  the  Phoenicians  is  fully  described  by  Claudius 
Jolaus  in  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Aupo;  (also  in  Müller,  Fragm.  hist,  grace,  iv.  3G3). 
•Joseph us  also  calls  Dora  a  mT^ts  rvi;  ^oivikyi;  (Vita,  8;  c.  Apion.  ii.  9). 
The  distance  from  Caesarea,  8  r?j.  p.  according  to  Tab.  Peuiing.;  9  m.  p. 
according  to  Eusebius  (Onom.,  ed.  Lag.  p.  283)  and  Jerome  (the  same,  pp. 
115,  142).  According  to  Artemidorus  (in  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.),  Dora  lay  Iot 
Xipoovnaoitoov;  roVoy.  Comp,  generally,  Reland,  pp.  738-741 ;  Raumer,  p. 
154;  Winer,  Schenkel,  Pauly,  s.^'.,•  Ritter,  xvi.  607-612;  Guerin,  Samarie, 
ii.  305-315.  The  Survey  of  Westei-n  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and 
Kitchener,  ii.  pp.  8,  7-11  ;  also  sheet  vii.  of  the  English  chart. 

136  Hecataeus  in  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Aapog  (also  in  Müller,  Fragm.  hist,  graec. 
i.  17,  n.  260)  :  f^iToi  Bs  ^  i7«,7^a.i  Aupo;,  uvv  oi  Aupx  x,cthihcci.  The  words 
cannot  indeed  have  come  down  just  as  they  stand  from  Hecataeus,  because 
they  manifest  a  change  in  the  usage  of  the  language,  which  did  not  fully 
take  place  till  about  500  years  later  (see  above,  note  133).  Hence  the 
copy  made  use  of  by  Steph.  Byz.  must  here  have  had  an  interpolation. 
On  Hecataeus,  see  Forbiger,  Handbuch  der  alten  Geogr.  i.  48  sqq.  C.  Müller, 
Fragm.  hist,  graec.  t.  i.  Proleg.  pp.  ix.-xvi.  Westermann  in  Pauly's  Enc. 
iii.  1082  sq. 

136a  The  Aapos  tributary  to  the  Athenians  is  indeed  generally  taken  to 
be  a  town  in  Caria  (according  to  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Aupog).  Such  an  one 
however  not  being  elsewhere  known  of,  and  the  power  of  the  Athenians 
extending  in  any  case  to  Cyprus,  we  may  perhaps  suppose  it  to  have  been 
the  Phoenician  Doros.  See  Ulr.  Köhler,  Urkunden  und  Untersuchungen  zur 
Geschichte  des  Delisch-attischen  Bundes  {Transactions  of  the  Berlin  Aca- 
demy, 1869),  pp.  121,  207.     Six,  Numismatic  Chronicle,  1877,  p.  235. 

^2''  See  the  inscription  of  Eshmunazar,  lines  18,  19,  in  the  Corp.  Inscript. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  89 

Persian  period,  rightly  calls  Dora  a  town  of  the  Sidonians.^'^ 
Although  Dora  was  no  large  city/'"'^  it  M'as  on  account  of  its 
favourable  position  a  strong  fortress.  When  Antiochus  the 
Great  made  (219  b.c.)  his  first  attack  upon  Coelesyria,  he 
besieged  Dora,  but  in  vain.^''*^  Eighty  years  afterwards 
(139-138  B.c.)  Trypho  was  here  besieged  by  Antiochus 
Sidetes  with  a  large  army,  but  equally  without  result.  The 
siege  ended  with  the  flight  of  Trypho.^^^  On  a  coin  of 
Trypho's  stamped  at  Dora  the  town  is  called  le(pä)  K{ai) 
aiavXos;)}^^  Some  decades  afterwards  we  find  it  in  the 
possession  of  the  tyrant  Zoilus  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  12.  2), 
who  was  afterwards  overthrown  by  Alexander  Jannaeus 
{Antt.  xiii.  12.  4).  It  must  therefore  have  subsequently 
belonged  to  the  Jewish  region,  but  was  again  separated 
from  it  by  Pompey  {Antt.  xiv.  4.  4 ;  Bdl.  Jiid.  i.  7.  7).  Like 
many  other  towns,  Dora  also  then  began  a  new  era,  which 
it  continued  to  use  on  coins  of  the  imperial  age.^^'^  It 
was  restored  by  Gabinius  {Antt.  xiv.    5.    3).      After   Pompey 

Semiticariim,  vol.  i.  (1881)  pp.  9-20;  also  Sclilottmann,  Die  Im^chrift 
Eschmunazar  (18C8),  pp.  82  sq.,  146  sqq. 

^^^  Scylax  in  Geograplii  graeci  minores,  ed.  Müller,  i.  79  :  AZpo;  nrot.ii 
lihaviav.  On  Scylax,  see  c.cj.  Fabricius-Harles,  Blhlioth.  gr.  iv.  606  sqq. 
Forbiger,  Ilandh.  d.  alun  Gcogr.  i.  113  sqq.,  123  sqq.  Westermann  iii 
Fauly's  Enc.  vi.  1.  891  sq.  Nicolai,  Griech.  Literaturgesch.  i.  322  sq. 
Anonymi  vulgo  Scylacis  Caryandensis  periplum  maris  intemi  cum  appen- 
dice,  iterum  rec.  Fahricius,  Lips.  1878. 

i''-*  Artemidorus  :  'Tra'Kia/axriov.  Claudius  Jolans  :  ßoecxitx '770>vi'x'-'^i  (both 
in  Steph.  Byz.).     Clement,  llecogn.  iv.  1 :  breve  oppidum. 

»0  Polyb.  V.  66.  ^^^  1  ^facc.  xv.  11-37  ;  Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  7.  2. 

I'is  Mionnet,  v.  72.     Stark,  p.  477. 

i''3  Tlic  commencement  of  the  era  cannot  be  strictly  deterniincd.  At 
all  events  however  it  is  that  of  Pompey  (b.c.  63?),  not  that  of  Gabinius, 
as  De  Saulcy,  in  spite  of  his  own  objections  assumes,  for  an  era  of  Gabinius 
could  not  begin  earlier  than  the  autumn  of  58  B.c.  =  696  A.U.C.  and  then 
175  aer.  Dor.,  of  which  year  coins  of  Trajan  are  in  existence,  would  be  = 
870/871  A.U.C.,  while  Trajan  was  already  dead  before  the  autumn  of  870. 
See  generally,  Noris,  iv.  5.  5  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  453-4.")8).  Fellerin,  Rccucil  de 
me'dailles  de  j^cvples  ct  de  villcs  (3  vols.  Faris  1763),  ii.  216  sq.  Eckhel, 
Doctr.  Num.  iii.  362  sq.  Ideler,  Ilandh.  der  Chromdngie,  i.  459.  The 
coins  in  Mionnet,  v.  359-362 ;  Suppl.  viii.  258-260.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  142-148, 
pi.  vi.  n.  6-12. 


90  §  -23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

it  was  under  direct  Eonmn  government,  and  therefore 
never  belonged  to  Herod  (whose  dominions  on  the  coast 
extended  no  farther  northward  than  Caesarea).  It  is  called 
on  coins  of  the  imperial  period  lepa  äcTv\o<;  avrovofio^ 
vavap'x^i'i}'^^  The  existence  of  a  Jewish  community  in  Dora  is 
evidenced  by  an  occurrence  of  the  time  of  King  Agrippa  I. : 
a  number  of  young  people  once  placed  a  statue  of  the  emperor 
in  the  Jewish  synagogue,  and  it  needed  energetic  intervention 
on  the  part  of  Petronius  the  governor,  in  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  authorities  of  Dora  {Awpirwv  tol^  irpcoToi'i),  to  secure  to 
the  Jews  that  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  which  had  been 
pledged  to  them  {Antt.  xix.  6.  3).  In  the  later  imperial  period, 
Dora  seems  to  have  fallen  into  decay.^*^  Christian  bishops 
of  Dora  are  however  mentioned  down  to  the  7th  century.^*^ 

11.  Ptolemais,  UrokeixaU}^^  The  original  name  of  tlie 
town  was  Akko,  isv  (Eichter  1.  31),  or,  as  it  reads  in  Greek, 
"Ak7].  By  this  name  it  was  already  known  to  the  Greeks 
in  pre-Hellenistic   times.-''*^     It    was   here  that  in   the  year 

^^*  See  especially  Mionuet  and  De  Saulcy,  as  above. 

1^5  Hieronymus,  Ononiast.,  ed.  Lagarde,  p.  115:  Dora  .  .  .  nunc  deserta. 
Ihid.  p.  142:  Dor  autem  est  oppidum  jam  desertum.  The  same,  Peregri- 
natio  Paulae  (in  Tobler,  Palaestinae  descriptiones^  1869,  p.  13)  :  ruinas  Dor, 
urbis  quondam  potentissimae. 

1^^  Le  Quien,  Oricns  christianns,  iii.  574-579. 

^^'^  For  a  description  of  the  situation,  see  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  10.  2. 
Compare  in  general,  Reland,  pp.  534-542.  Pauly,  Real-Enc.  vi.  1.  243. 
Winer,  Aü.  "  Acco."  Raum  er,  p.  119  sq.  Ritter,  xvi.  725-739.  Robinson, 
Recent  Scriptural  Researches  in  Palestine,  iii.  89-101.  Sepp,  Jerusalem,  ii. 
513  sqq.  Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  502-525.  Bädeker-Socin,  Paläst.  1st  ed.  p. 
369  sqq.  (with  plan  of  the  present  Akka).  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine, 
Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  i.  145,  160-167,  also  sheet  iii.  of  the 
English  chart.     Ebers  and  Guthe,  Palästina,  vol.  ii.  p.  450. 

1*8  Scylax  in  Geogr.  gr.  min.,  ed.  Müller,  i.  79.  Isaeus,  Orat.  iv.  7. 
Demosthenes,  Orat.  52  contra  Callippum,  §24  (where  indeed  the  word"  Ax>jj» 
is  first  restored  in  Dindorf's  edit,  after  the  gloss  in  Harpocration,  Lex.  s.v. 
'Ann,  the  earlier  edition  having  ©o«*«;/).  Diodor.  xv.  41,  xix.  93. 
Polyaen.  iii.  9.  56.  Cornel.  Xepos,  xiv.  Datames,  c.  5.  Comp.  Strabo,  xvi. 
p.  758.  Plinius,  H.  N.  v.  19.  75.  Charax  in  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Aupog. 
Claudius  Jolaus  in  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  "Akyi.  Steph.  Byz.  ibid,  and  s.v. 
JlToT^sfixt;.  The  Lexicographers,  Etymolog,  magn.,  Harpocration,  Suidas 
(see  the  passages  in  Reland,  p.  536  sq.  ;  also  Kuhn,  ii.  331).  A  coin  of 
A.KVI  in  Mionnet,  v.  473 ;  De  Saulcy,  p.  154,  pi.  viii.  n.  2 ;  some  others  in 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  91 

374  B.C.  the  arnjy  of  Artaxerxes  Mnemnon  assembled  for 
the  campaign  against  Egypt.^'*^  Ake  must  have  been  an 
important  town  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  For 
among  the  coins  of  Alexander  stamped  in  Phoenicia  those  of 
Ake  especially  are  very  numerous.  They  have  the  name  of 
Alexander  in  Greek,  that  of  the  town  in  Phoenician  characters 
('AXe^dvSpov,  ay,  sometimes  xay),  and  the  year  of  an  era 
beginning  with  Alexander  the  Great.  As  elsewhere  so  too 
in  Ake  these  coins  were  still  issued  long  after  the  death  of 
Alexander.^""  Ake  was  levelled  to  the  ground  in  the  year 
312  by  Ptolemy  Lagos,  when  he  again  evacuated  before 
Antigonus  the  district  of  Coelesyria,  Avhich  he  had  just 
conquered.^^^      It    probably   received    from   Ptolemy   II.    the 

Keichardt,  Nnmlsmalic  aironlclc,  186'2.  p.  108;  1864,  p.  187.  Wiener 
Xumismat.  Monatshefte,  published  by  Egger,  vol.  ii.  18G6,  p.  .3.  On  the 
ancient  history  of  Ake,  comp,  especially  the  fragment  from  ^^enander  in 
Joseph.  Antt.  ix.  14.  2  (Ake  revolts  from  Tyre  in  the  time  of  Slialmuuczar, 
and  goes  over  to  Shalmanezar). 

^■•^  Diod.  XV.  41.  This  is  referred  to  also  by  Polyaen.  iii.  9.  56 ;  Cornel.  Xep. 
xiv.  5;  comp.  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  758:  EU  i}  UrüAsfiocts  hri  fnyä'h^  -Kohic,  ^i/"Akyiv 
uuofix^ov,  Tporspov  v\  i^^^pavTO  öofi/ir/jp lu  vpog  tviu  AiyvTrrov  oi  Tlipaon. 

'^^  See  Eckhel,  iii.  408  sq.  ;  Mionnet,  i.  520  sq.  ;  also  Recueil  des  planches, 
pi.  xxi.  n.  1-10;  Suppl.  iii.  197  sq.  and  pi.  ii.  n.  1-6.  Gesenius,  Scripturae 
liiignaeque  Phoeniciae  nunnanenta,  p.  269  sij.  L.  Müller,  Xitmismeitiqiie  eV Alex- 
andre le  Grand  (1855),  p.  303  ;  also  planches,  n.  1424-1463.  Numerous 
copies  of  these  coins  (gold  staters  of  Alexander,  especially  those  of  the  years 
23  and  24)  have  become  known  by  means  of  a  large  discovery  of  coins  at 
Sidon  in  the  year  1863.  Sec  AV(cckbecker)  in  the  Wiener  Ä^nmismatische)i 
Monatsheften,  pub.  by  Egger,  vol.  i.  1865,  pp.  5-11.  Waddingtcn  in  the 
Revue  Numismatiqne,  1865,  pp.  3-25.  Droysen,  Geschichte  des  Hellenismus 
(2nd  ed.),  i.  1.  302-304.  The  same,  Monatsber.  der  Berliner  Akademie^ 
1877,  p.  40  sqq.  Weckbecker  in  Egger's  Wiener  Numismat.  Monatsheften, 
i.  98, 99,  teils  of  tetradrachmas  of  Ake  of  Alexander  the  Great  with  the  years 
16,  22,  31,  32,  which  "  were  brought  to  market  in  Beirut  by  an  Armenian 
of  Mossul  at  about  the  same  time  (1802-1863)."  A  collection  of  the  whole 
material  maybe  expected  in  the  Corp.  Inscr.  Scniiticarum.  On  the  fact 
that  coins  were  issued  with  tiie  name  of  Alexander  after  his  death,  see  L. 
Müller,  Numismalique  d' Alexandre  le  Grand,  pp.  50-90.  The  numbers  of  the 
years  on  the  coins  of  Ake  are  5-46.  Since  the  year  334  or  333  must  be 
accepted  as  the  starting-point,  these  coins  were  issued  not  only  till  306, 
when  the  Diadochoi  assumed  the  royal  title,  but  also  till  about  two  decades 
afterwards.     See  especially,  Müller,  pp.  80-83. 

^^'  Diodor.  xix.  93.     Comp,  above,  note  52  (Gaza)  and  109  (Joppa). 


92  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

name  of  UroXeiJiaU,  which  was  henceforth  the  prevailing 
one.^^^  Still  its  original  name  Akko  was  uninterruptedly 
maintained  beside  the  Greek  one,  which  it  subsequently  sup- 
planted.^^^  In  the  Seleucid  period  also  Ptolemais  figures  as 
one  of  the  most  important  cities  of  the  Phoenician-Philistine 
coast.  The  conquest  of  this  region  by  Antiochus  the  Great 
in  the  year  219  was  much  facilitated  by  the  surrender  to  him 
of  the  towns  of  Tyre  and  Ptolemais  by  the  Phoenician  general 
Theodotus.^^*  Antiochus  wintered  in  Ptolemais  in  218/219.^^' 
The  Seleucidae  after  their  definitive  occupation  of  Phoenicia 
specially  favoured  Ptolemais.  On  coins,  especially  those  of 
the  times  of  Antiochus  IV.  and  VIIL,  the  inhabitants  are 
called  ^AvTLo-)(eh  ol  iv  IlToXeixatSi,,  sometimes  with  the  addi- 
tion Upa  a(TvXo<;,  sometimes  lepa  avTovofx,o<;.  The  bestowal  of 
the  title  "  Antiochians,"  and  with  it  perhaps  certain  privileges, 
is  to  be  regarded  as  a  mark  of  favour,  which  was  aspired  after 
by  many  other  towns,  e.g.  Jerusalem,  during  the  predominance 
of  the   Hellenistic  party.^^*'      Seleucid  coins  of  Antiochus  V., 

152  The  founding  and  naming  of  the  town  is  expressly  referred  to  Ptolemy 
in  Pseudo-Aristeas  (ed.  Moritz  Schmidt  in  Merx'  Archiv,  vol.  i.  p.  274)  : 
TLroTiiiactiZ»  tsji/  t/5j-o  rnv  ßciaiT^iu;  sKriaf^sv/iv.  This  is  also  probable  in  itself. 
Ptulemy  II.  was  the  first  of  the  Ptolemies,  who  continued  in  possession  of 
Phoenicia  and  Coelesyria.  That  he  there  undertook  the  founding  of  towns 
is  proved  by  the  example  of  Philadelphia  (see  below).  Already  in  219-217 
Ptolemais  is  mentioned  under  this  name  in  Polybius,  without  his  pointing 
out  that  it  was  then  not  as  yet  known  by  this  name  (Polyb.  v.  61-62.  71). 
Comp,  also  Droysen,  iii.  2.  305. 

15-^  The  name  isy  occurs  especially  in  Rabbinic  literature,  see  Mishna, 
Nedarim  iii.  6;  Gittin  i.  2,  vii.  7  ;  Ahoda  sara  iii.  4  ;  Ohaloth  xviii.  9.  The 
passages  of  the  Tosefta  in  the  Index  to  Zuckermandsl's  ed.  (1882).  Neu- 
bauer, Geographie  du  Talmud,  p.  231  sq.  To  this  very  day  the  town  is 
called  Akka  (Acre). 

154  Polyb.  v.  61-62.     Comp.  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  375  sqq.      ^^s  Polyb.  v.  71. 

156  On  the  coins  in  question,  see  Eckhel,  iii.  305  sq.  Mionnet,  v.  37  sq.,  88, 
216-218.  Gardner,  Catalogue  of  the  Greek  Coins  in  the  British  Museum, 
Seleucid  Kings,  p.  41.  Even  the  circumstance  that  isp»  ä.(rv>.o;  appears  as 
an  apposition  to 'Aj/T/o^ä'?  ('A!'t/o;^;s6j»  ruv  b  XlToXf^a/'B/ /sjoäj  «o-t/Xoy, 
and  similarly  on  the  coins  of  Hippiis,  see  below,  No.  13),  proves  that  the  town 
of  Ptolemais  and  its  citizens  collectively,  not  a  colony  of  Antiochian 
merchants  in  Ptolemais,  is  intended  (the  latter  is  the  view  of  Eckhel  and 
Kuhn,  i.  22 ;  see,  on'  the  other  hand,  Stark,  p.  449 ;  Droysen,  iii.  2.  305). 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  93 

Demetrius  I.,  Alexander  Balas,  and  Trypho,  minted  at 
Ptolemais,  are  in  existence.^^^  The  town  was  used  as  a 
residence  by  the  kings  during  their  temporary  abode  in  these 
regions  (1  Mace.  x.  56-60,  xi.  22,  24).  It  always  showed 
itself  hostile  to  the  Jews.  Even  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Maccabaean  rising,  it  was  especially  the  towns  of  Ptolemais, 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  which  fought  against  the  Jews,  who  had 
revolted  from  Syrian  sovereignty  (1  Mace,  v  15  sqq.).  Jonathan 
was  here  treacherously  taken  prisoner  by  Trypho  (1  Mace,  xii 
45  sqq.).  After  the  accession  of  Alexander  Jannaeus,  B.c. 
104,  when  the  Seleucidae  had  already  lost  all  authority  in  the 
southern  parts  of  their  dominions,  three  neighbouring  powers 
contended  for  the  possession  of  Ptolemais.  At  first  Alexander 
Jannaeus  entertained  the  purpose  of  conquering  it,  but  was 
prevented  from  carrying  out  his  design  by  Ptolemy  Lathurus, 
the  ruler  of  Cyprus,  who  himself  took  possession  of  the  town 
by  force  (Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  12.  2-6).  He  was  however  soon 
deprived  of  it  by  his  mother  Cleopatra,  queen  of  Egypt  {Antt. 
xiii.  13.  1-2).  Ptolemais  seems  never  again  to  have  come 
under  the  authority  of  the  Selucidae,  nay  even  the  still  more 
northward  towns  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  had  meantime  made 
themselves  independent.  On  the  contrary,  we  still  find  there, 
about  70  B.c.,  an  Egyptian  princess,  Selene,  daughter  of  this 
Cleopatra,  and  widow  of  Antiochus  Grypus,  to  whom  she  had 
been  given  in  marriage  by  her  mother,  when  the  latter  entered 
into  alliance  with  him  again.st  Antiochus  Kyzikenos,  who 
ruled  in  Coelesyria.^*^  At  the  instance  of  this  Selene 
Ptolemais  closed  its  gates  against  Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia, 
the    conqueror    of    the    Seleucid    kingdom;     was    thereupon 

The  title  Antiocliians  was  also  aspired  after  by  the  Hellenistic  party  ia 
Jerusalem  ;  see  2  Mace.  iv.  9,  and  Grimm  (the  passage  should  be  translated, 
"  and  to  enroll  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  as  Antiochians,''  or  "  to  receive 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  into  the  list  of  Antiochians'").  ^Vhether,  and 
what,  privileges  were  combined  therewith  can  hardly  be  ascertained. 

^^''  Gardner,  Catalogue  of  Greek  Coins,  etc.,  pp.  44,  47,  ö2.  A  coin  of 
Trypho  is  given  by  De  Saulcy,  Melanges  de  Numism.  vol.  ii.  1877,  p.  82. 

^*®  Justin.  Hist,  xxxix.  4.  4. 


94  §  23.    COXSTITüTIOX.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

conquered  by  Tigranes,  but  again  liberated  wlien  Tigranes 
found  himself  obliged  to  retreat  by  reason  of  the  attacks  of 
the  Eomans  upon  his  own  kingdom  (J ose'ph.  Antt.  xiii.  16.  4). 
Ptolemais  seems  to  have  experienced  special  favour  from 
Caesar,  when  in  the  year  47  he  was  over  the  affairs  of 
Syria.  For  there  are  in  existence  some  of  its  coins  of  the 
imperial  period  with  an  era  reaching  back  to  Caesar.^^^ 
Probably  the  coins  with  the  legend  Uroke^ai.  iepa<;  kuI 
da-vXov  (or  the  like)  belong  also  to  this  time  (shonly  after 
Caesar).^^°  The  Emperor  Claudius  settled  a  colony  of  veterans 
in  Ptolemais.  Hence  the  town  was  henceforth  callea  colonia 
Ptolemais,  though  it  did  not  possess  the  actual  privileges  of  a 
colony.^^^  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Jewish  war,  the  Jews 
in  Ptolemais,  2000  in  number,  were  slaughtered  by  the 
inhabitants  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  5).  The  district  of  Ptolemais 
is  mentioned  by  Josephus  as  the  western  boundary  of  Galilee 
{Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  1;  comp.  Vita,  24).  The  formula:  JTroXe/iai'Sa 
KctX  TT)v  irpoaKvpovaav  avrfj,  seil.  X(öpav  (1  Mace.  x.  39),  is 
characteristic. 

Next  to  the  great  maritime  towns,  the  towns  of  the  so- 
called  Deeapolis  belong  to  the  class  of  independent  Hellenistic 
communities.  The  organization  alluded  to  in  this  word  w^as 
probably  the  work  of  Pompey.  For  we  first  meet  with  the 
term   (17  AeKa-jrdkL'i)   during  the  Pioman  period ;  ^^^  and  most 

159  See  Eckhel,  iii.  425.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  162,  164,  166.  Ptoleraais  was 
not  the  only  town  which  was  favoured  by  Caesar  ;  comp.  Marquardt,  i.  397. 

i*""  See  these  especially  in  De  Saulcy,  1.54-156. 

i*^!  Plinius,  V.  19,  75 :  colonia  Claudi  Caesaris  Ptolemais  quae  quondam 
Acce  ;  comp,  xxxvi.  26.  190.  Digest,  lib.  xv.  1.  3  (from  Ulpianus)  :  Ptole- 
maeensium  enira  colonia,  quae  inter  Phoeuicien  et  Palaestinam  sita  est,  nihil 
praeter  nomen  coloniae  habet  (also  Koris,  p.  427  sq.).  On  coins :  COL. 
PTOL.,  sometimes  with  the  numbers  of  the  vi.  ix.  x.  xi.  legions.  See  in 
general.  Noris,  iv.  5.  2  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  424-430).  Eckhel,  iii.  423-425. 
Mionnet,  v,  473-481;  Suppl.  viü.  324-331.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  153-169. 
405  sq.,  pi.  viii.  n.  2-11.  The  same,  Melanges  de  Numismatiqnc,  vol.  ii. 
1877,  pp.  143-146.     Zumpt,  Commentat.  cpigr.  i.  386.     Marquardt,  i.  428 

162  Matt.  iv.  25  ;  Mark  v.  20,  vii.  31  ;  Plinius.  H.  N.  v.  18.  74.  Josephus, 
Bdl.  Jud.  üi.  9.  7;  Vita,  65,  74.  Ptolemaeus,  v.  15.  22.  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec. 
n.   4501   (inscription  of    the  time  of  Hadrian).     Eusebius,    Onomast..,  ed. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  95 

of  the  towns  of  Decapolis  owe  their  independent  political 
existence  to  Ponipey.  These  were  the  Hellenistic  towns  of 
the  country  east  of  Jordan,  which,  having  been  suhjected  by 
Alexander  Jannaeus,  were  again  liberated  from  Jewish  autho- 
rity by  Pompey.  It  is  probable  that  they  thus  formed  a  kind 
of  confederacy,  which  originally  consisted  of  ten  towns,  and 
was  therefore  called  r]  AeKcuTToKL<i,  but  retained  the  name 
after  the  number  was  enlarged  by  the  accession  of  other 
towns.  For  the  number  did  not  always  remain  the  same,  as 
riiny,  our  chief  authority,  remarks,  H.  N.  v.  18.  74:  Deca- 
politana  regio  a  numero  oppidorum,  in  quo  non  onmes  eadem 
observant,  plurimum  tamen  Damascum,  Philadelphiam,  Eha- 
phanam,  Scythopolim,  Gadara,  Hippon,  Dion,  Pellam,  Galasam 
(read :  Gerasam),  Canatliam.  Besides  Pliny,  only  Ptolemy 
V.  15.  22-23  gives  an  enumeration  of  the  several  towns. 
It  contains  all  the  towns  mentioned  by  Pliny,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Eaphana ;  and  besides  these,  nine  others  (situated 
chiefly  in  the  north  of  Palestine  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Damascus),  so  that  the  number  given  by  him  amounts  to 
eighteen.  Hence  we  must  keep  to  Pliny  for  the  original 
number.  To  those  named  b}''  him,  we  add  only  Abila  and 
Kanata  (another  town  than  Kanatha),  both  which  have  also 
the  Pompeian  era.  All  the  towns  except  Scythopolis  lie  in 
the  region  east  of  the  Jordan.  The  inclusion  of  Damascus, 
lying  so  far  to  the  north,  is  striking.  Since  however  it  is 
mentioned  by  both  Pliny  and  Ptolemy,  it  must  be  retained. 
In  any  case  Decapolis,  as  such,  continued  in  existence  in  the 
second  century  after  Christ  (the  time  of  the  geograplier 
Ptolemy).  Its  dissolution  took  place  in  the  course  of  the  third 
century,  in  consequence  of  the  transference  of  some  of  its 
most  important  towns  to  the  province  of  Arabia  (constituted 
a  province  a.D.  105).     The   mention   of   Decapolis   by  later 

Lagardo,  p.  251.  Epiplianius,  Hacr.  29.  7;  dc  mciix.  ctpond.  §  15.  Stephanas 
Byz.  s.v.  Yipxax  (the  text  handed  down  has  here  ■naactciax.nihiKcfzöy.iui, 
for  which  liowever  Meineke  rightly  reads  o-y^cfTziXiu;).  Comp,  in  general, 
Winer,  RWB.,  s.v.  "  Decapolis."  Caspari,  Clironolufjisch-giojraphische  Ein- 
kiluiHj  ill  (las  Lchcn  Jesu  Christi  (1809),  pp.  83-90. 


96  §  23.    CONSTITUTIOX.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWXS. 

authors,  as  Eusebius,  Epiphanius,  Steph.  Byz.,  rests  therefore 
only  on  historical  information.  The  following  enumeration 
is  in  geographical  order  from  north  to  south. 

12.  Damascus,  AaiJLa(xicö<i,  Hebr.  P^\  From  the  varied 
history  of  this  town,  we  can  here  bring  forward  only  such 
particulars  as  are  important  with  respect  to  its  constitution 
during  the  Hellenistic  and  Eoman  periods.^^'^  The  dominion 
of  Alexander  the  Great  over  Damascus  is  evidenced  not  only 
by  the  narratives  of  authors,  but  by  coins  of  Alexander 
issued  there.^^^*  In  the  third  century  before  Christ,  Damascus 
seems  to  have  belonged  not,  like  Phoenicia  and  Palestine,  to 
the  Ptolemies,  but  to  the  Seleucidae.  It  is  true,  that  when 
Ptolemy  II.  seized  Phoenicia  and  Palestine,  B.C.  280,  he  must 
also  have  taken  possession  of  Damascus.  It  was  however 
reconquered  by  Antiochus  I.  (280-262).^®*  At  the  great 
invasion  of  the  realm  of  the  Seleucidae  by  Ptolemy  III.,  B.c. 
246,  in  which  all  Syria  was  for  some  time  lost  to  Seleucus 
IL,  Damascus  seems  to  have  been  not  once  conquered,  but 
only  besieged.  Seleucus  relieved  it,  when  in  the  year  242/241 
he  again  victoriously  pressed  southwards.^^  The  fact,  that 
Damascus  anciently  formed  part  of  the  Seleucid  dominions,  is 

'^^  See  in  general,  Eodiger  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encycl.  sect.  i.  vol. 
22,  Div.  2,  pp.  113-116.  Arnold  in  Herzog "s  Eeal-Encycl.  1st  ed.  iii.  259- 
262.  Winer,  s.v.  Noldeke  in  Schenkel's  Bihcllex.  s.v.  Robinson,  Recent 
Scriptural  Researches,  iii.  442-468.  Ritter,  Erdkunde  xvii.  2.  1332  sqq. 
Kreraer,  Topographie  von  Damascus  {Records  of  the  Viennese  Academy,  phiL- 
hist.  CI.  vol.  V.  and  vi.  1854-55).  Porter,  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  2  vols. 
1855.  Sepp,  Jerusalem  (2nd  ed.),  ii.  358-385.  ßädeker-Socin,  Palästina 
in  Bild  und  Wort,  vol.  i.  (1883)  pp.  389-442  and  504. 

163a  Curtius,  iii.  13,  iv.  1.  Arrian,  ii.  11.  9  sq.,  15.  1.  The  coins  in  L. 
Müller,  Numismaiique  d'Älexa7idre  le  Grand,  p.  287  sq.,  pi.  n.  1338-1346. 

164  polyaen.  iv.  15  ;  comp.  Droysen,  Gesch.  d.  Hellenismus,  iii.  1.  256,  274. 
Stark,  Gaza,  pp.  366,  367. 

165  Euseb.  Chron.,  ed.  Schoeue,  i.  251  (Armenian  text  according  to  Peter- 
mann" s  translation)  :  Ptolemaeus  autem,  qui  et  Triphon,  partes  (regiones) 
Syriorum  occupavit :  quae  vero  apud  (ad  contra)  Damaskum  et  Orthosiam 
obsessio  fiebat,  finem  accepit  (accipiebat)  centesimae  tricesimae  quart  ae 
olompiadis  anno  tertio,  quum  Seleukus  eo  descendisset  (descenderit). 
Olymp.  134,  3  =  242/241  B.c.  Comp.  Droysen,  iii.  1.  390,  393.  Stark 
adopts,  according  to  Zohrab's  translation  of  the  Armenian  text,  the  view 
of  an  actual  taking  of  Damascus  by  Ptolemy. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.  97 

indirectly  confirmed  by  the  circumstance,  that  Polybius,  when 
fully  relating  the  particulars  of  the  conquest  of  Phoenicia  and 
Palestine  by  Antiochus  the  Great  (v.  61-71),  mentions  indeed 
the  taking  of  the  most  important  Phoenician  and  Palestinian 
towns,  but  nowhere  speaks  of  Damascus.  When  in  111  b.c. 
the  Syrian  kingdom  was,  in  consequence  of  the  strife  between 
the  brothers  Antiochus  VIII.  (Grypos)  and  Antiochus  IX. 
(Kyzikenos),  divided,  and  Antiochus  Kyzikenos  established  him- 
self in  the  southern  part,^^^  Damascus  probably  became  the 
capital  of  his  small  kingdom.  At  all  events  it  was  about  95-85 
B.c.  repeatedly  the  capital  of  a  kingdom  of  Coelesyria  separated 
from  the  kingdom  of  Syria,  first  under  Demetrius  Eukaerus 
a  son  of  Antiochus  Grypos  (Joseph.  A71U.  xiii.  13.  4),  then  under 
Antiochus  XII.  also  a  son  of  Grypos  (Antt.  xiii.  15.  1). 
Antiochus  XII.  fell  in  battle  against  the  Arabian  king  Aretas ; 
and  Damascus  continued  henceforth  under  his  authority  (Antt. 
xiv.  15.  1,  2  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  4.  7,  8).  When  Pompey  pene- 
trated into  Asia,  Damascus  was  first  of  all  occupied  by  his 
legates  {Antt.  xiv.  2.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  6.  2).  Apparently  it 
was  not  restored  to  the  Arabian  king,  but  united  to  the  pro- 
vince of  Syria.^^''  In  the  time  of  Cassius  (44-42  b.c.)  we 
find  a  Pioman  commander,  Fabius,  in  Damascus  {Antt.  xiv. 
11.  7,  12.  1  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  12.  1,  2).  Already  in  the  times 
of  Augustus  and  Tiberius  there  were  Pioman  imperial  coins  of 
Damascus,  but  at  the  same  time,  as  in  the  case  of  Ascalon, 
autonomic  ones  also.  The  Seleucid  era  is  used  on  both,  and 
this  continued  to  be  the  prevailing  one  at  Damascus.'*^^     There 

'^'^  Euseb.  Ckron.,  ed.  Scboeue,  i.  260. 

^^^  Hieronymus,  Comment.  inJcsnj.  c.  17  (^Opp.  eA  Vallarsi,  iv.  194)  :  Alii 
aestimant  de  Romana  captivitate  praedici,  quoniam  et  Judaeorum  captiis  est 
populus,  et  Damascus,  cui  iinperabat  Areta,  similem  sustiuuit  servitutem. 
I  cannot  think  Afarquardt  (i.  405)  correct  in  adopting  the  notiou,  that  the 
Arabian  kings  kept  possession  of  Damascus  in  exchange  for  the  payment 
of  a  tribute  till  a.D.  106. 

^"^  See  on  the  coins  in  general,  Noris  ii.  2.  2  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  87-9o). 
Eckhel,iii.329-3;U.  Mionnet,  v.  283-297;  .S'«/)/'/- via.  193-206.  DeSaiilcy, 
pp.  30-56,  404,  pi.  ii.  n.  1-10.  Kremer,  Dk  Münzsammlung  des  Stifts  St. 
Florian  (1871),  pp.  167-170,  table  vi.  n.  7,  8. 

DIV.  n.  VOL.  I.  G 


98  5  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLEXISTIC  TOWNS. 

are  no  coins  of  the  times  of  Caligula  and  Claudius,  though 
there  are  coins  from  iSTero  onwards.  With  this  circumstance 
must  be  combined  the  fact,  that  Damascus,  when  St.  Paul 
fled  from  it  (probably  in  the  time  of  Caligula),  was  under  a 
viceroy  (ißvdp'^'rj'i')  of  the  Arabian  king  Aretas  (2  Cor.  xi.  32). 
Hence  it  then  belonged  temporarily  to  the  Arabian  king, 
whether  he  seized  it  by  violence  or  obtained  it  by  imperial 
favour.  That  tliere  was  a  Jewish  community  in  Damascus 
is  already  evident  from  the  New  Testament  (Acts  ix.  2 ; 
2  Cor.  xi.  32).  That  it  was  numerous  may  be  inferred  from 
the  number  of  Jews  slain  at  Damascus  at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  great  war.  This  amounted  to  10,000,  or  according 
to  another  statement  18,000  (the  former,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  2  ; 
the  latter.  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  8.  7).  After  Hadrian  the  town  bore 
the  title  jjirjTpÖTroXi^,  after  Alexander  Severus  it  was  a  colony 
(not  first  after  Philip  the  Arabian,  as  even  Eckhel  supposes), 
both  facts  being  witnessed  to  by  the  coins.^^^  We  are  informed 
{Antt.  xviii.  6.  3)  of  a  dispute  concerning  boundaries  between 
the  Damascenes  and  Sidonians  in  the  time  of  Tiberius,  which 
is  chiefly  of  interest  as  showing,  how  extensive  the  district 
pertaining  to  this  town  must  have  been,  since  it  bordered 
upon  that  of  Sidon. 

13.  Hippus/'Iinro^,  is  properly  the  name  of  a  mountain  or 
hill,  on  which  stood  the  town  of  the  same  name.^^°  Identical 
with  it  is  probably  the  Hebrew  Susitha  (xjT'D'id),  which  is 
frequently  mentioned  in  Kabbinical  authorities  as  a  Gentile 
town  of  Palestine,^"^  and  Susije,^"^*  which  frequently  occurs 
in  Arabic    geographers.      The    following  statements  serve  to 

^^"  On  tbe  title  ^>jTpoV&X/?,  see  Eckliel,  iii.  331.  Kuhn,  ii.  192.  Mar- 
quardt,  i.  430. 

1^"  Ptolemaeus,  v.  15.  8. 

^'1  In  the  Tosefta,  Ohaloth  xviii.  4  (ed.  Zuckermandel,  p.  616,  23),  Susitha 
is  mentioned  together  with  Ascalon  as  an  example  of  a  heathen  town  "  girt 
about "  by  the  land  of  Israel.  It  is  elsewhere  frequently  named  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Tiberias.  Comp.  I.ightfoot,  Ccntnrla  chronographica  Matthaco 
pracmissa,  c.  77  ;  decas  Marco  pracmissa^  c.  5.  1  (^Opp.  ii.  226,  413).  Neu- 
bauer, Geographie  du  Talmud.,  pp.  238-240. 

^^la  Qierniont-Ganneau,   On  e'fait  Hippos  de  la  Deiapole?  (Revue  arched' 


§  2.3.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  IIELLENISIIC  TOWNS.  99 

determine  the  locality.  According  to  Pliny,  it  stood  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth ;  ^'^  according  to 
Josephus,  only  3  0  stadia  from  Tiberias ;  ^^^  according  to  Euse- 
bius  and  Jerome,  near  a  certain  city  and  castle  of  Afeka.^^* 
According  to  these  data  the  ruins  of  el-Hösn  on  a  hill  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth  are  probably  to  be 
regarded  as  marking  the  position  of  the  ancient  Hippus ;  a 
village  of  the  name  of  Fik,  whicli  must  be  identical  with 
the  ancient  Afeka,  is  three-quarters  of  a  league  off.^"^  The 
supposed  identity  of  the  name  Hippos  with  el-Hösn  (the 
horse)  is  certainly  questionable.^"^  But  little  is  known  of  the 
history  of  Hippus.^ '^  It  received  its  freedom  from  Pompey 
(Joseph.  Antt.  xiv.  4.  4 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7).  It  was  bestowed 
by  Augustus  upon  Herod  {Antt.  xv.  7.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  20.  3), 
after  whose  death  it  was  again  separated  from  the  Jewish 
region  {Antt.  xvii.  11.4;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  3).  On  this  occasion 
it  is  expressly  called  a  Greek  city  {I.e.).  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  Jewish  revolt  the  district  of  Hippus  as  well  as  that  of 
Gadara  was  devastated  by  the  Jews  under  the  leadership  of 

logique,  nouvelle  sdric,  vol.  xxix.  1875,  pp.  36:^-369).  Furrer,  Ztitschr. 
d.  deulachen  Palästina-  Verein.^.,  ii.  7-4. 

i'2  Plinius,  V.  15.  71 :  in  lacum  .  .  ,  Geuosaram  .  .  .  araoeuis  circuni- 
saeptnm  oppiclis,  ab  orieate  Juliade  et  Hippo. 

^'3  Josepli.  Vita.,  65.  Tiie  statements  of  Josephus  are  here  indeed  very 
systematic,  Hippus  30,  Gadara  GO,  Scythoi)olis  120  stadia  from  Tiberias. 
He  is  here  following  the  tendency  of  stating  distances  as  low  as  possible. 
His  figures  must  therefore  be  anything  but  strictly  taken.  Besides  it  is 
clear  also  from  Josephus,  that  the  district  of  lli[ipus  lay  by  the  lake, 
opposite  Tarichea  (TVto,  31)  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gadara  {Vita,  9). 

1'*  Euseb.  Onoviast.,  ed.  Lag.  p.  219.     Hieron.  ibid.  p.  91. 

^^5  The  situations  of  Fik  and  el-Hösn  are  alrearly  described  by  Burckhardt, 
Meisen  in  Syrien,  i.  438.  That  it  is  here  that  the  ancient  Hippus  must  be 
sought  is  the  view  also  of  Raumer,  p.  250.  Hitter,  xv.  1.  352  sq.  Furrer, 
Zeitsclir.  d.  deutschen  Pal.-  Vereinte,  ii.  73  sq.  Others  identify  el-Hösn  with 
Garaala,  and  find  Hippus  either  in  Fik  (so  ^^errill,  East  of  the  Jordan, 
1881,  pp.  163-169)  or  in  Sumra,  lying  far  more  to  the  south  (so  Gueriu, 
Galilee,  i.  310-312). 

^"*'  Clermont-Ganneau  (as  above,  p.  364)  explains  Hösn  as  the  common 
promniciatioti  uf  Hi.sii  (fortress).  The  name  occurs  elsewhere  also  as  an 
/\rabic  local  name  in  modern  Palestine. 

''^  Comp,  besides  the  literature  in  note  175,  Reland,  p.  821  sq. 


100        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Justus  of  Tiberias  {Bell  Jud.  ii.  18.  1  ;  Vita,  9).  The  inhabit- 
ants of  Hippus  retaliated  by  slaying  or  casting  into  prison 
all  the  Jews  dwelling  in  the  city  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  5). 
In  Christian  times  Hippus  was  the  see  of  a  bishop.^"  The 
name  of  the  town  has  as  yet  been  only  once  shown  to  exist 
upon  coins  (viz.  on  one  of  Nero's  time).'""'"^  But  coins  with 
the  legend  Avno'^ecov  rcov  irpo<;  'I'Tr{Trov)  t?)?  lep{a<i)  K{al) 
aavkov  have  been  rightly  referred  by  numismatists  to  Hippus. 
They  have  as  might  be  expected  the  Pompeian  era,  and  on 
most  is  the  image  of  a  horse.^"^ — The  district  of  Hippus  is 
mentioned  Vita,  9,  31 ;  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  1.  Vita,  9  :  ifiiriTrprja-i 
rd<i  T€  Tahaprivoiv  Koi  ' Itttttj^oüv  KCi)fMa<;,  ai  Sr)  fxedoptoL  ri]^ 
TißepidSo^  Kai  T?}?  Toov  ^KvOoiroKiroiv  'yrj<i  ervfy^avou  Ketfxevai, 
is  most  instructive  as  showing,  that  the  districts  of  these  four 
towns  were  so  extensive  as  to  form  a  connected  whole. 

14.  Gadara,  FaBapd.  The  position  of  Gadara  on  the  site 
of  the  present  ruins  of  Om-Keis  (Mkes),  to  the  south-east  of 
the  Lake  of  Gennesareth,  was  recognised  by  Seetzen  so  early 
as  1806,  and  may  now  be  regarded  as  settled.^^®  The  main 
point  of  connection  is  furnished  by  the  warm  springs  for 
which  Gadara  was  famous,  and  which  are  still  found  in  this 
region.^®"     They  lie  on  the   northern   bank   of  the   Scheriat 

1"''  Epiphan.  Haer.  73,  26.  Le  Qiiien,  Oriens  christianus,  iii.  710  sq. 
Hierocles,  Synecd.,  ed.  Parthey,  p.  44.    The  Notit.  ejnscojmt.,  the  same,  p.  144. 

irra  The  coin  is  given  by  Muret,  Revue  Niimismatiqiie,  troisieme  serie, 
vol.  i.  1883,  p.  67,  and  pi.  ii.  n.  9.  It  has  on  one  side  a  head  of  Nero 
with  the  superscription  Aut.  Kotia.,  on  the  other  a  horse  with  the  super- 
scription Ittvyivcuu  and  the  date  AAP  (131),  the  latter  according  to  the 
Pompeian  era. 

1^8  Noris,  iii.  9.  5  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  331-334).  Eckhel,  iii.  346  sq.  Mionnet, 
V.  319  sq.  ;  Suppl.  viii.  224.     De  Saulcy,  pp.  344-347,  pi.  xix.  n.  10-15. 

1^^  Seetzen,  Reisen  durch  Syrien  (ed.  by  Kruse,  4  vols.  1854-59),  i.  868 
sqq.,  iv.  188  sqq.  Burckhardt,  Reisen  in  Syrien,  i.  426  sqq.,  434  sqq.,  537 
sq.  (who  indeed  takes  Om-Keis  for  Gamala,  but  is  corrected  by  his  editor 
Gesenius).  Buckingham,  Travels  in  Palestine,  1821,  pp.  414-440  (like 
Burckhardt).  Winer,  s.v.  "  Gadara."  Raumer,  p.  248  sq.  Ritter,  xv.  1.  871- 
Ö84,  XV.  2. 1052  sq.  Sepp,  Jerusalem,  ii.  211-216.  Bädeker-Socin,  p.  415  sq. 
Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  299-808.  Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan  (1881),  pp.  145-158. 
For  the  history,  Reland,  pp.  773-778.     Kuhn,  ii.  365  sq.,  371. 

^^^  Comp,  on  the  situation,  Euseb.  Onomast.  p.  248 :  Txlxpx,  'ttoThs  i>''^h 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       101 

el-Mandur ;  on  the  southern  bank,  at  about  a  league's  distance 
from  the  springs,  are  found  on  the  lofty  ridge  of  the  hill  the 
ruins  of  the  town.  Hence  the  Scheriat  el-Mandur  is  identical 
with  the  Hieromices,  which  according  to  Pliny  flowed  past 
the  town.^^^  Gadara  was  in  the  time  of  Antiochus  the  Great 
already  an  important  fortress.  It  was  conquered  by  Antio- 
chus both  at  his  first  invasion  (b.c.  218),^^^  and  when  he 
finally  took  possession  of  Palestine  after  his  victory  at 
Panias,  B.c.  198.^^^  It  was  taken  by  Alexander  Jannaeus 
after  a  ten  months'  siege  (Antt.  xiii.  13.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  4.  2). 
It  consequently  belonged  under  him  and  his  successors 
to  the  Jewish  region  {Antt.  xiii.  15.  4),  but  was  separated 
from  it  by  Pompey  {Antt.  xiv.  4.  4 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7). 
On  this  occasion  Pompey,  out  of  regard  for  his  freedman 
Demetrius  of  Gadara,  rebuilt  the  city,  which  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  Jews  (Alexander  Jannael^s  ?).  Hence  upon 
the  numerous  coins  of  the  town  extending  from  Augustus  to 
Gordian,  the  Pompeian  era  is  used.      It  begins  in  the  year 

Toi/ 'lophxvYiv,  ccvriKpi/  "^x-vdoTohiu;  xeil  TifiiptK^og  vpo;  dvxro'Kiii:  h  tu  opu, 
ov  wjBOff  T«?j  vfrapiioci;  zoctuv  depf^Zv  v^dcruv  "Kovrpd.  'tt upöcKinoct. 
Ibid.  p.  219  :  Alf^üö  .  .  .  xufiri  v'Kinaiov  Toioocpuv,  ^  lari»  ^^[/.y,x6öi,  'ivöx  toc 
ruv  $spf^uy  vhcttuv  dspf^öi  'hovrpcc.  On  the  baths,  see  also  especially  the  passages 
from  Epiphaiiius,  Antoninus  Martyr  and  Eunapius  (who  declares  them  to 
have  been  the  most  important  after  those  of  Baiae),  in  Reland,  p.  775.  Also 
Origenes  in  Joaun.  vol.  vi.  c.  2-i  (ed.  Lommatzsch,  i.  239)  :  Tülxpx  yxp 
TÖ'Kig  i^t'j  ia-zL  rij;  'lovoxix;,  Tnol  vfj  rx  hixßo-^TX  6ip/^x  rvy/^xvit.  The 
place  where  the  springs  are  situated  occurs  in  the  Talmud  under  the  name 
nnön.  See  the  passages  in  Levy,  Ncuhebr.  Würierbtich,  ii.  69  sq.  Lightfoot, 
Centuria  Matthaeo  praemissa,  c.  74  (0pp.  ii.  224  sq.).  Hamburger,  Jhol- 
Encyclop.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  Div.  ii.  art.  "  Heilbäder."  Grätz, 
Monatschr.  für  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Jiuhnth.  1880,  pp.  487-495. 

181  Plinius,  V.  18.  74 :  Gadara  Hieromice  praefluente.  The  form 
Hieromax,  which  still  appears  in  handbooks,  is  derived  from  the  incorrect 
reading  Hieroniace.  That  Hieromices  nmst  be  adopted  as  the  nominative 
is  proved  by  the  occurrence  elsewhere  of  tiie  forms  Hieromicas  {Tab. 
Pcuting.)  and  Jeromisus  (Gto[/r.  llaccnnas,  ed.  Finder  et  Farthcy,  p.  85). 
Tbe  native  name  is  Jarmuk,  Tj^HD")',  Mishna,  Para  viii.  10,  and  Arabic 
geographers  (see  Arnold  in  Hcrzog's  Ileal- Enajd.  Ist  ed.  vii.  10,  xi.  20). 

1*2  Polyb.  v.  71.  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  381.  Polybius  says  of  Gadara  on  this 
occasion  :   x  6uku  ruu  kxt^  iKu'vov;  rov;  tc'ttoi/;  cxt^P'^Tn-i  ^ix^ipuv. 

1«^  Polyb.  xvi.  39  =  Joseph.  Antt.  xii.  3.  3.     Stark,  p.  403. 


102         §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

690  A.U.C.,  SO  that  1  acr.  Gadar.  =  64/63  b.c.'^*  The 
memory  of  its  rebuilding  by  Pompey  is  also  perpetuated  upon 
coins  from  Antoninus  Pius  to  Gordiauus  by  the  legend 
IIofjbTrrjtewv  Tahapewu}^'  The  notion  that  Gadara  was  the 
seat  of  one  of  the  five  Jewish  Sanliedrin  established  by 
Gabiuius  is  incorrect  (see  above,  §  13).  In  tlie  year  30  B.c., 
Gadara  was  bestowed  upon  Herod  by  Augustus  {Antt.  xv.  7. 
3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  20.  3).  The  town  was  however  very  discon- 
tented with  his  government.  So  early  as  the  year  23-31 
B.c.,  when  M.  Agrippa  was  staying  at  Mytilene,  certain 
Gadarenes  there  brought  complaint  against  Herod  {Antt.  xv. 
10,  2).  Complaints  were  repeated  when  Augustus  in  the 
year  20  personally  visited  Syria  {Antt.  xv.  10.  3).  In  both 
cases  those  who  made  them  were  dismissed.  It  is  quite  in 
accordance  with  this,  that  we  find  Gadarene  coins  of  just  the 
year  20  B.c.  (44  aer.  Gadar)  with  the  image  of  Augustus  and 
the  inscription  Xeßatnö^ — Herod  being  desirous,  by  stamping 
such  coins  at  Gadara,  to  show  his  gratitude  to  the  emperor.^*^ 
After  the  death  of  Herod,  Gadara  regained  its  independence 
under  Eoman  supremacy  {Antt.  xvii.  11.  4;  Bdl.  Jud.  ii.  6. 
3).  At  the  beginning  of  the  Jewish  revolt  the  district  of 
Gadara,  like  that  of  the  neighbouring  Hipp  us,  was  devastated 
by  the  Jews  under  the  leadership  of  Justus  of  Tiberias  {Bell. 
Jud.  ii.  18.  1  ;  Vita,  9).  The  Gadarenes,  like  their  neigh- 
bours of  Hippus,  avenged  themselves  by  slaying  or  imprison- 
ing the  Jews  dwelling  in  their  town  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  5). 
Such  of  the  inhabitants  however  as  were  fiiendly  to  the 
Pvomans,  not  feeling  themselves  secure  against  the  turbulent 

18*  On  the  era  and  the  coins,  see  Noris,  iii.  9.  1  (ed.  Lij)s.  pp.  297-308). 
Eckhel,  iü.  348-350.  Mionuet,  v.  323-328;  Suppl.  vüi.  227-230.  De 
Saulcy,  pp.  294-303.  pi.  15.  Kenner,  Die  Miinzcsammlung  des  Stifts  St. 
Florian  (1871),  p.  171  sq.,  Taf.  vi.  u.  10. 

18^  As  the  legend  is  generally  abbreviated  (Ilo.  or  no,«7r.  Tothxp;ui/), 
the  reading  is  not  quite  certain.  Tlie  older  numismatics  give  for  a  coin  of 
Caraealla  the  reading  lio/nTrriinuy  Talccpiojy  ;  De  Saulcy,  on  the  contrary  (p. 
302,  and  pi.  xv.  n.  9),  gives  Uou'77Yinav  YxOotpajv,  which  is  certainly  correct. 

1*^  Comp.  De  Saulcy,  p.  295.  The  coins  in  Mionnet,  v.  323 ;  Suppl. 
viii.  227. 


§  23.    CONSTITÜTIOX.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       103 

elements  in  their  own  city,  requested  and  received  a  Eoman 
garrison  from  Vespasian  in  the  later  period  of  the  war  {Bell. 
Jud.  iv.  7.  3,  4).^^^  In  what  sense  Josephus  can  designate 
Gadara  as  the  /jLrjrpoTroXi'^  t?)?  Tlepatwi  [Bell.  Jud.  iv.  7.  3) 
cannot  be  further  ascertained.^*'^  On  coins,  especially  of  the 
time  of  the  Antonines,  it  is  called  le^pa)  a(r(y\o<i)  a{yT6vofio<i) 
7(.  .  .  ?)  Kol(\r}^)  ^vp(La<i)}^^  According  to  an  inscription 
discovered  by  Eenan,  it  was  during  the  later  imperial  period 
a  Eoman  colony."^  The  infarmatiou  of  Stephanus  Byz.  (s.v.), 
that  it  was  also  called  ^AvTio^eia  and  ^eXevKeia,  stands  quite 
alone,  and  certainly  refers  only  to  temporary  official  designa- 
tions, not  to  such  as  had  come  into  common  use.  There  is 
abundant  evidence  that  it  was  already  in  pre-Christian  times 
a  flourishing  Hellenistic  town.  Josephus  calls  it  at  the  death 
of  Herod  a  ttoXl^  'E\\r)vL<;  (Antt.  xvii.  11.  4;  Bell.  Jud.  ii. 
6.  3)  ;  Strabo  mentions  as  renowned  natives  of  Gudara,  Philo- 
demus  the  Epicurean,  the  poet  Meleager,  and  Menippus  the 
Cynic,  who  on  account  of  his  witty  style  was  often  called 
6  <77rovBoye\olo^,  and  Theodorus  the  orator.^^^  Of  later  times 
must   also    be   added    Oenomaus,  the    cynic    and    tlie   orator 

18^  From  Joseph.  Vila,  15,  it  might  appear  as  though  Josephus  also,  as  ruler 
of  Galilee,  liad  ouce  taken  possession  of  Gadara  b)-  force.  But  the  reading 
there  should  certainly  be  Vußxpil;,  instead  of  YciOccpu;;  comp.  Vita,  25,  45, 
47.  In  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  7.  1,  also  Vocßxpeav  must  be  read  for  Yaoxpioiv. 
Lastly,  in  Antt.  xiii.  13.  5,  either  the  reading  is  corrupt  or  another  Gadara 
is  meant. 

1*^  Eckhel  (iii.  349)  supposes  that  it  was  the  place  of  assembly  of  some 
association  for  the  celebration  of  periodical  games,  in  which  sense  the  word 
jtojrpoVoX/;  is  certainly  often  used. 

^^^  See  in  De  Saulcy  especially  the  coins  of  Commodus,  n.  2  (p.  oOl),  and 
Elagabalus,  n.  5  (p.  303).  The  predicate  ispa.  is  also  found  in  an  epigram 
of  .Meleager,  where  he  says  of  liimsclf  :  o-j  diÖTrai;  ijuöouai  Tvpo;,  Yxodpui/  6' 
iipoi  x^uv  {Anthologia  palatlna.1  vii.  419,  ed.  Jacobs,  vol.  i.  p.  431).  Gadara 
is  also  designated  by  Steph.  Byz.  as  xoA/;  Kot'Är,;  "^vpicx,;. 

^^  Renan,  Mission  de  Phciiicie,  p.  191  =:Cor/>.  Jnscr.  Lat.  vol.  iii.  n.  181 
(epitaph  at  Byblus)  :  col(onia)  Valen(tia)  Gadara. 

^^^  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  759.  Strabo  indeed  frequently  confuses  our  Gadara 
with  Gadaza  =  Gadara.  That  the  latter  cannot  be  regardeil  as  the  native 
jilace  of  these  men  is  self-evident.  The  individuals  in  question  are  all  known 
to  us  elsewhere  (see  above,  p.  29).  The  orator  Tiieodorus  was  the  tutor  of 
the  Emperor  Tiberius  (Sueton,  T'iher.  57),  and  iifterwards  lived  at  Rhodes, 


104        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Apsines.^^^  Meleager  says  of  himself  that  he  came  of  "  an 
Attic  race,  dwelling  in  Assyrian  Gadara."  ^^^  The  district  of 
Gadara  formed  the  eastern  boundary  of  Galilee  (Bell.  Jud. 
iii.  3.  1).  On  its  extent,  comp.  Vita,  9,  and  above,  p.  100. 
That  it  reached  to  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth  may  not  only  be 
inferred  from  Matt.  viii.  28  (where  the  reading  is  uncertain), 
but  also  from  the  coins,  on  which  a  ship  is  often  por- 
trayed, nay  once  (on  a  coin  of  Marc.  Aurel.)  a  vav^a{y(ia) 
mentioned.^''* 

15.  Ahila,  "AßiXa.  The  local  name  Abel  [?^^)  or  Abila  is 
very  frequent  in  Palestine.  Eusebius  knows  of  three  places 
of  this  name  celebrated  for  the  cultivation  of  the  vine :  (1)  A 
village  in  South  Peraea,  6  mil.  pass,  from  Philadelphia ;  (2)  A 
7ro\t9  iiriarjfiof;,  12  mil.  pass,  from  Gadara;  (3)  A  place 
between  Damascus  and  Paneas."^  Of  these  the  second  town 
on  the  east  of  Gadara  is  the  one  with  which  we  are  here 
concerned.  Its  situation,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Scheriat 
el-Mandur,  was  discovered,  as  well  as  that  of  Gadara,  by 
Seetzen.^^®  Pliny  does  not  mention  this  Abila  among  the 
cities  of  Decapolis.  Its  inclusion  among  them  is  however 
evidenced  by  an  inscription  of  the  time  of  Hadrian.^^^     An 

where  Tiberius  frequently  visited  him  during  bis  exile  (Pauly's  Enc.  vi. 
2,  1819). 

192  Reland,  p.  775. 

193  Antliologia  palatina,  vii.  417,  ed.  Jacobs,  vol.  i.  p.  430  (ed.  Diibner, 
L  352,  where  however,  without  reason,  Toihü.poti  is  changed  into  Yötlctpit)  : 

Naffoj  iiA,»  ^piTrriipoc  Tvpo;'  Trocrp»  di  /m  nKUoi 
Ardl;  IV  '  Aaovpiois  vctiof^hcc  Toi^xpoi;. 
19*  On  the  latter,  comp,  especially  Eckhel,  iii.  348  sq.     A  ship  is  seen  in 
the  illustrations  in  De  Saulcy,  pi.  xv.  n.  9-11. 

195  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Legarde,  p.  225  :  "A/SsA  »(A-viKuv.  ev6»  iTrohi^ytui» 
'\i<p6»i.  yvii  viuv  '  Kf^i^üu,  7,  iuTiv  ilg  'in  vvi/  >cu/it,n  dfi'Trsy^oCpopog" Aßi'K  «xo  r 
anfAiiuv  <i>i'hcthi'h(()ix;.  x-al  ä.'h'KYi  'Trö'hii  STria/ifiOs  '  AßiAoi  oho(p6pog  Kcc'hovf/Aii-ifti 
"huaruace.  Va.'hxpuv  a-fiu.iioii  //3'  xpoj  ctvu.r'j'hä,;.  x,xi  Tpir/i  ti;  uiiT'/j  '  Aßi'Kcc  rvji 
^oivix.AS  f^trcc^v  Axu,x(7x,ov  kxI  Tlxvixoo;. 

196  Seetzen,  Reisen  durch  Syrien  (edited  by  Kruse),  i.  371,  iv.  190  sq. 
Comp,  also  Burckliardt,  Reisen  in  Syrien,  i.  425,  537.  Raumer,  p.  241. 
Ritter,  xv.  2.  1058-1060.  On  the  history,  Reland,  p.  525  sq.  Kuhn,  ii. 
335,  371  sq. 

197  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec.  n,  4501  (inscription  of  Palmyra  of  the  year  445 
aer.  Sei.  =  133-134  a.D.):  ' Ayxdxy/iho;' Aßi'Knvi;  tyis  AiKxx6?.io;. 


§  23.    CONSTITU'IIOX.       I.    THE  liELLEXlSTlC  TUWX.S,        105 

"AßiBa  by  which  our  "AßiXa  is  certainly  intended  is  also 
placed  by  Ptolemy  among  the  cities  of  Decapolis/^^  It  first 
appears  in  history  in  the  time  of  Antiochus  the  Great,  -vvho 
occupied  Abila  as  well  as  its  neighbour  Gadara  at  both  his 
first  and  his  second  conquest  of  Palestine,  219  and  198  B.c.^*® 
On  the  whole  it  seems  to  liave  frequently  shared  the  lot  of 
Gadara.  Like  the  latter,  Abila  received  its  liberty  through 
Pompey.  For  the  coins  of  Abila  with  the  Pompeian  era  are 
rightly  ascribed  to  this  town.^""  Its  titles  also  are  the  same  as 
those  of  Gadara:  [(epa)  a^avkos;)  a(yT6vofj,o'i)  y(  .  .  .  ?)  Koi(X7?9) 
^v(piu<;).  The  coins  show  that  the  town  was  also  called 
HekevKeia,  the  inhabitants  were  called  5'eXei;/c(ei9)  ^AßCkTjvoL^^ 
In  Nero's  time  Abila  was  given  to  Agrippa  IL,  unless  the  notice 
of  Josephus  to  that  effect  rests  upon  an  error.^^^  In  the  sixth 
century  after  Christ  Christian  bishops  of  Abila,  who  may  with 
tolerable  certainty  be  referred  to  our  Abila,  are  mentioned.""'^ 
16.  Baphana,  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  Syrian  'Pa(f)d- 

*88  Ptolem.  V.  15.  22.  The  Codex  of  Vatopedi  also  has  here  "Aßicoc ; 
Bce  Geographie  de  Piole'me'e,  reproduction  photolilhogr.  du  manuscrit  grec  du 
monasterc  de  Vatopedi  (Paris  1867),  p.  Ivii.  line  4. 

193  Polyb.  V.  71  and  xvi.  o9  =  Joseph.  .1?/«.  xii.  3.  3. 

2""  See  on  these,  especially  Belley  iu  tlie  Me'rnoires  de  V Academic  des  In- 
scriptions et  Belks-Lettres,  ancient  series,  vol.  xxviii.  1761,  pp.  557-567. 
Eckhel,  iii.  345  sq.  Mionnet,  v.  318;  Suppl  viii.  223  sq.  De  Saulcy,  pp. 
308-312,  pi.  xvi.  n.  1-7. 

201  This  is  now  confirmed  l)y  a  coin  of  Faustina,  jun.,  given  by  De  Saulcy 
(p.  310,  and  pi.  xvi.  n.  2).  The  coins  formerly  known  give  either  the  abbre- 
viated 2;.  '  Aßi?^/juuv  or  (a  damaged  one  of  Faustina)  .  .  .  ?.evx..  Aßt'hoc.g,  the 
former  of  which  was  completed  as  2£/3ss(rT(aj/,  the  latter  as  Asväkoo.c,  both 
erroneously,  as  is  now  shown. 

202  Jicil  J  mi  ii.  13.  2.  In  the  parallel  passage,  Antt.  xx.  8.  2,  Josephus 
says  nothing  of  it ;  and  it  is  striking  that  Abila  should  not  (like  the  other 
towns  there  named :  Julias-Bethsaida,  Taricliea,  Tiberias)  be  connected  with 
the  rest  of  Agrippa's  dominions.  Besides  Antt.  xii.  3.  3  and  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  13.  2 
are  the  only  passages  in  which  our  Abila  is  mentioned  by  Josephus.  For 
in  Antt.  iv.  8. 1 ,  v.  1.  1,  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  7.  6,  another  Abila,  near  the  Jordan,  and 
opposite  Jericho,  not  far  from  Julias- Livias,  and  not  identical  with  either  of 
the  three  places  of  the  same  name  mentioned  by  Eusebins,  is  meant.  Again, 
the  well-known  Abila  Lysaniae  is  different.  Nor  is  tiie  list  by  any  means 
thereby  exhausted.     See  Winer,  IIWB.,  s.v.  "Abila." 

203  Le  Quien,  Oriens  christianus,  iii.  702  sq.  Comp.  Hierocles,  Synced.^ 
ed.  Parthey,  p.  44.     Notit.  episcopal.,  the  same,  p.  144. 


106        §23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

veia  in  Cassiotis,  is  mentioned  only  by  Pliny  (v.  18.  74).^°* 
The  'Pa(f)cov  however  of  the  first  Book  of  the  Maccabees  (v.  37 
=  Joseph.  Antt.  xii.  8.  4),  which,  according  to  the  context  of  the 
narrative  (comp.  v.  43)  lay  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Astaroth- 
Karnaim,  and  therefore  in  Batanaea,  is  probably  identical  with 
it.  Since  Ptolemy  has  not  the  name  of  Eaphana  among  the 
towns  of  Decapolis,  it  is  probable  that  he  mentions  the  town 
by  another  name ;  and  it  is  at  least  possible,  though  only 
possible,  that  Eaphana  is,  as  Quandt  supposes,  identical  with 
the  Capitolias  mentioned  by  Ptolemy  (v.  15.  22),  and  so 
frequently  elsewhere  since  the  second  century  after  Christ.^"^ 

17.  Kanata.  The  existence  of  this  town,  as  distinct  from 
Kanatha,  has  but  recently  been  ascertained  on  the  ground  of 
inscriptions  by  Waddington.^"^  Upon  an  inscription  at  el-Afine 
(on  the  south-western  declivity  of  the  Hauran,  to  the  west  of 

-°*  On  the  Syrian  Raphaneia,  .see  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  1.  3,  5. 1.  Ptolem. 
V.  15.  16.  Tab.  Peuting.  Hierocles,  ed.  Parthey,  p.  61.  Steph.  Byz.  s.v. 
Eckhel,  iii.  323.  Mionnet,  v.  268  ;  Suppl.  viil  168.  Pauiy's  Encyd.  s.v. 
Ritter,  xviL  1.  940  sq. 

205  Quandt,  Judäa  und  die  Naclibarschafl  im  Jalirli.  vor  und  nach  der 
Geburt  Christi  (1873),  p.  40  sq.  Capitolias  was  (according  to  Tab.  Peuting.) 
16  m.  p.  from  Adraa.  Since  then  Raphana  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Astaroth-Karnaim,  and  the  latter  (according  to  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lag. 
p.  213)  6  m.  p.  distant  from  Adraa,  Capitolias  and  Raphana  may  in  fact 
be  identical.  The  situation  of  almost  all  these  places  is  indeed  not  yet 
certainly  determined.  It  seems  to  me  incorrect  to  seek  CapitoUas,  as  is 
frequently  done,  to  the  south-east  of  Gadara.  For,  according  to  the 
Itinerarium  Antonini  (ed.  Parthey  et  Pinder,  pp.  88,  80),  it  lay  on  the  direct 
route  from  Gadara  to  Damascus,  and  therefore  to  the  nor^/i-east  of  the 
former.  With  this  agree  also  the  astronomical  definitions  of  Ptolemy 
(north-east  of  Gadara,  under  the  same  geographical  latitude  as  Hippus). 
The  roadway  too  given  in  the  Peutingcr  Tabic,  Gadara-Capitolias-Adraa- 
Bostra,  has  therefore  not  a  south-eastern,  but  a  north-eastern  direction. 
On  the  whole  Raumer  is  correct,  although  his  more  particular  determination 
of  the  locality  is  very  problematical.  Compare  on  C^apitolias  in  general, 
Koris,  iii.  9.  4  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  323-331).  Eckhel,  328  sq.  Mionnet,  v.  281- 
283  ;  Suppl.  viii.  192.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  304-307,  pi.  xvi.  n.  9.  Reland, 
p.  693  sq.  Ritter,  xv.  356,  821,  1060.  Raumer,  p.  246.  Seetzen,  Reisen 
(edited  by  Kruse),  iv.  185  sqq.  Kuhn,  ii.  372.  Le  Quien,  Oriens  christ. 
iii.  715  sq. 

-"^  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  Inscriptions  grecqucs  tt  latines,  vol.  iii.,  de- 
scriptions of  n.  2296,  2329,  and  241 2d.  Comp,  also  Marquardt,  Römische 
Staatsverwaltung,  i.  395,  note  17. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOAVXS.        107 

Hebran)  is  mentioned  an  uyci)yo<i  vScItcov  elacßepofieucov  ei? 
Kuvara  built  by  Cornelius  I'alma,  governor  of  Syria  in  the 
time  of  Trajan.^"^  This  Kanata  cannot  be  identical  with 
Kanatha  =  Kanawat,  for  the  latter,  lying  higher  than'  el- 
Atine,  and  being  itself  abundantly  supplied  with  water,  an 
aqueduct  from  el-Afine  thither  is  inconceivable.  The  situa- 
tion of  Kanata  is  however  also  determined  by  an  inscription 
discovered  by  Wetzstein  at  Kerak  (in  the  plain  west-south-west 
of  Kanawat) :  Au  fjueyiarla]  KavarijvMv  6  \hrifjLo<i\^°^  Accord- 
ing to-  this  Kanata  is  identical  with  the  present  Kerak, 
to  whose  former  Greek  culture  other  inscriptions  also  bear 
testimony .^"^  The  few  coins  of  Kanata,  which  were  by  former 
numismatists  wrongly  attributed  to  the  better  known  Kanatha, 
prove  at  least  that  Kanata  had  the  Pompeian  era,  and  there- 
fore very  probably  belonged  to  Decapolis.^'^  The  coins  belong 
to  the  times  of  Claudius  and  Domitian.^"  That  Kerak  was 
once  a  town  is  confirmed  by  the  mention  of  a  ßovXevrr]<i  upon 
an  inscription.^^^  On  the  other  hand,  another  inscription  of 
the  middle  of  the  third  century  after  Christ  calls  it  a  kco/j-t}.^^^ 
It  had  thus  already  lost  the  rights  of  a  town.  The  date 
on  this  inscription  is  according  to  the  era  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Arabia,  hence  we  may  conclude,  that  at  the  establish- 
ment of  this  province  (105  b.c.)  it  was  allotted  to  it. 

«o?  Le  Bas  et  "Waddingtoii,  vol.  iii.  ii.  2296. 

208 -wretzstein,  Aitsf/ewähltc  f/ricchischc  und  lateinische  Inschriften  (7'rans- 
actinn.iof  the  Berlin  Academy,  ISQli,  phi  I  nJ. -hi  stor.  Cl.),u.  lh!ö  =  ÄVaddiugLou, 
n.  2412d. 

2"-'  Wetzsteiu,  n.  1 83-186  ^AVaddingtou,  n.  2412a-2412g. 

2'0  Bclley  in  the  ]\Ie'moires  de  I' Academic  des  Inscr.  et  Belles- Lettirs,  aucient 
serie.s,  vol.  xxviii.  568  sqq.  Eckhel,  iii.  347.  Mioimet,  v.  231 ;  Suppl.  viiL 
225.  De  Saulcy,  p.  339  sq.,  pi.  xxiii.  n.  8,  9.  Reicluirdt  in  the  Wiener 
Numismat.  Zeitsch.  1880,  pp.  68-73.  De  Saulcy  and  Reichardt  were  the 
first  to  distinguish  correctly  the  coins  of  Kanata  and  Kanatha.  Among 
the  older  numismalicians  arc  also  other  rnistakes. 

211  >[ionnct,  Suppl.  viii.  225,  gives  a  coin  of  Maximinus,  which  however 
does  not  belong  to  Kanata,  but  to  Ascalon  (see  De  Saulcy,  p.  208).  De 
Saulcy  and  Rcicltardt  give  each  a  coin  of  Elagabalus,  the  reading  of  which  is 
however  very  uncertain. 

=ä'"-  \Vetz.stein,  n.  184  =  W;v](lington,  n.  2412e. 

2'"  Wetzstein,  n.  186  =  Waddingtou,  n.  2412^. 


108         §  23,    CONSTITUTION-.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

18.  Kanaiha.  On  the  western  declivity  of  the  Hauran 
range  is  the  place  now  called  Kanaiuat,  whose  ruins  are 
among  the  most  important  of  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan. 
Numerous  inscriptions,  well  preserved  remains  of  temples  and 
other  public  buildings,  prove  that  an  important  town  once 
stood  here ;  and  both  ruins  and  inscriptions  point  to  the  first 
centuries  of  the  Eoman  imperial  period.  The  ruins  have, 
since  Seetzen's  first  hasty  visit,  been  frequently  described.^^* 
The  inscriptions  have  been  most  completely  collected  by 
Waddington.^^"  It  is  rightly  and  almost  universally  admitted, 
that  the  Kanatha  so  often  mentioned  by  ancient  authors,  and 
with  which  the  Old  Testament  ri3|?  (Num.  xxxii.  42  ;  1  Chron. 
ii.  23)  is  probably  identical,  is  to  be  sought  for  here.^^^  The 
form  of  the  name  fluctuates  between  Kdvada  and  KdvcoOa ; 
Kevadr)v6<;  also  occurs  upon  an  inscription.^"  Apart  from 
the  Old   Testament  passages,  the  history  of  Kanatha  cannot 

-^^  Seetzen,  Reisen  durch  Syrien  (edited  by  Kruse),  i.  78  sqq. ,  iv.  40,  51  sqq. 
Burclshardt,  Beisen  in  Syrien,  i.  157  sqq.,  504  sq.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xv.  2. 
931-939.  Porter,  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  1855,  ii.  89-115  (with  plan). 
Bädeker-Socin,  Palästina,  p.  433  sqq.  (with  plan).  Merrill,  East  of  the 
Jordan  (1881),  pp.  36-42.  Views  of  the  ruins  in  Laborde,  Voyage  en  Orient, 
Paris  (1837-1845),  livraisou  21,  22,  26  ;  and  in  Rey,  Voyage  dansleHaouran 
et  aux  bords  de  la  mer  morte  execute  pendant  les  annees  1857  et  1858,  Paris. 
Atlas,  pi.  v.-viii.  (pi.  vi.  plan). 

2^^  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  Liscriptions,  vol.  iii.  n.  2329-2363.  Older 
information  in  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec.  4612-4615.  Wetzstein,  Ausgewählte  In- 
schriften (Transactions  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  1863),  n.  188-193. 

216  The  identity  of  Kanatha  with  the  present  Kanawat  is  best  proved  in 
Porter's  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  ii.  110  sqq.  The  statements  in  Eusebius 
and  the  Tab.  Peuting.  are  especially  convincing.  Compare  also  for  the  history, 
Reland,  pp.  681  sq.,  689.  AA^iner,  R  WB. ,  s.  v.  "  Kenath. "  Raumer,  p.  252. 
Ritter,  as  above.    Kuhn,  ii.  385  sq.     Waddington's  explanations  onn.  2329. 

^i''  The  form  Kanatha  is  found  in  Josephus  (Bell.  Jud.  i.  19.  2),  Plinius 
(v.  18.  74),  Ptolemaeus  (v.  15.  23),  Steplianus  Byz.  (^Lex.  s.v.),  Eusebius 
(Onomast. ,  ed.  Lag.  p.  269) ;  on  coins  (see  the  next  note),  inscriptions  {Corp. 
Inscr.  Graec.  n.  4613:  KxvxdYivus/  yj  Trö'hts;  Waddington,  n.  2216:  Kxvx6-^u6s 
ßovMvT*is  ;  Renier,  Inscr.  de  VAlge'rie,  n.  1534  and  1535  =  Co7-p.  Inscr.  Lat. 
vol.  viii.  n.  2394,  2395:  cohors  prima  Flavia  Canatlienorum)  ;  also  the  Tabula 
Peuting.  (Chanata).  The  form  Kanotha  is  found  in  Hierocles,  ed.  Parthey, 
p.  46  (Kxvüdd)  ;  a  Xotitia  episcopat.,  the  same,  p.  92  (Kctvodxi);  the  Acts 
of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  in  liC  Quien,  Oriens  christianus,  ii.  867  (gen. 
Kxvu$x;}  ;  an  inscription  in  the  Bullettino  deW  Instituto  di  corrisp.  archeol. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.        I.    THE  IlELLEXISTIC  TOWNS.       109 

be  traced  farther  back  tlian  the  time  of  Pompey ;  its  coins 
have  the  Poinpeian  era/'^  and  it  is  reckoned  by  botli  Pliny 
(v.  18.  74)  and  Ptolemy  (v.  15.  23)  among  the  towns  of 
Decapolis.  On  the  coins  of  Commodus  given  by  Reichardt 
the  inhabitants  are  called  raßeiv{tel<i)  Kavad(r)voi) ;  the  town 
therefore  seems  to  have  been  restored  by  Gabinius.  Herod 
experienced  a  mortifying  defeat  at  Kanatha  in  a  battle  against 
the  Arabians.^^^  On  the  civic  constitution  of  Kanatha  in 
imperial  times  we  get  some  information  from  inscriptions, 
ßovXevTai  being  frequently  mentioned,^^"  and  once  an  a'yopa- 
v6fio<i.^'^  A  Graeco-Latin  epitaph  of  a  Syrian  merchant,  dis- 
covered in  1862  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Trevoux  in  France, 
is  of  special  interest.  He  is  designated  in  the  Greek  text  as 
ßoij\€VTr]<;  ttoX/tt;?  re  Kav(o6ai,[(o]v  e[  .  .  .]  Xvpir}<i,  in  the 
Latin  as  decurio  Septimianus  Canotha.^^^  AVhat  the  latter 
title  denotes  is  indeed  very  doubtful.^^^  If  the  Xvpia  of  the 
Greek  text  is  to  be  understood  in  the  strict  sense  of  t\\e2Jrovmce 
of  Syria,  it  follows  from  the  combination  of  the  two  texts,  that 
Kanatha  belonged  to  the  province  of  Syria  down  to  the  time 
of  Septimius  Severus."^*  In  the  time  of  Eusebius  it  belonged 
to  the  province  of  Arabia.      It  is  striking  that  Eusebius  calls 

1867,  p.  204  (/SofAsvT'^j  woX/t/ij  n  Kctva6eci{^ai]u).  Lastly,  Kiuotdnvos  in 
Waddington,  n.  2343.  On  the  present  form  of  the  name  Kauawat,  see 
Wetzstein,  Reisebericht  über  Ilauran  und  die  Trachonen  (1860),  p.  77  sq. 

218  See  De  Saulcy,  pp.  399-401,  pl.  xxiii.  n.  10 ;  and  especially  Reichardt, 
Die  Münzen  Kanatha's  ( Wiener  Nmnismat.  Zeitschr.  1880,  pp.  68-72). 

219  Bell.  Jud.  L  19.  2.  In  the  parallel  passage,  Antt.  xv.  5.  1,  the  place 
is  called  K*vä., 

220  Waddington,  n.  2216,  2339  (=  Wetzstein,  n.  188).  Corp.  Inscr.  Grace. 
n.  4613  (=  Waddington,  n.  2331a).  The  last-named  inscription  was  dis- 
covered by  Seetzen,  not  in  Kanawat  (as  is  erroneously  stated  in  the  Corp. 
Inscr.  Grace,  and  in  AVaddington),  but  in  Deir  el-Chlef ;  see  Kruse  in  his 
edition  of  Seetzeu's  Traveb,  iv.  40,  note. 

221  Corp.  Inscr.  Grace.  4912  =  Waddington,  n.  2330. 

222  The  inscription  is  given  by  Henzen  in  the  Bidlcttino  dcIV  Ii)stlluto  di 
corrisp.  archeol.  1867,  pp.  203-207. 

223  See  Henzen  as  above,  and  Waddington's  explanations  on  2329. 

223a  So  also  Waddington  on  n.  2329,  and  Marquardt,  i.  396.  Still  Mar- 
quardt  is  inclined,  by  reason  of  the  circumstances  of  the  garrison,  to  the 
view  that  Kanatha  was,  in  the  time  of  Caracalla,  already  united  to  the  pro- 
vince of  Arabia  ;  see  p.  433,  note  3. 


110        §23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWXS. 

it  a  Koofir}.''*  Could  it  in  his  time  have  no  longer  had  a  civic 
constitution  ?  ^'*^  A  Christian  bishop  of  Kanotha  was  present 
at  the  Councils  of  Ephesus  (a.D.  449),  Chalcedon  (a.D.  451) 
and  Constantinople  (a.D.  459).'"* 

19.  ScytJiopolis,  ^kvOÖttoXi'?,  one  of  the  most  important 
Hellenistic  towns  of  Palestine,  the  only  one  among  the  towns 
of  Decapolis  which  lay  westward  of  the  Jordan.^^^  The 
ancient  name  of  the  town  was  Beth-sean,  ]^^  ri''3  or  IB*  JT3,  in 
the  Septuagint  and  in  the  first  Book  of  Maccabees  (v.  52, 
xii.  40  sq.),  Baiöa-dv.'^^  The  ancient  name  was  always 
maintained  beside  the  Greek  one,^^*  nay  at  last  supplanted  it. 
To  this  very  day  the  desolate  ruins  of  Beisan  in  the  valley 
of  the  Jordan  south  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth  mark  the 
position  of  the  ancient  city.  The  name  XicvÖö-ttoKl^  is 
undoubtedly  equal  to  XkvOüv  iroXi';,  as  indeed  it  is  frequently 
written. "^^  The  reason  for  this  name  is  very  obscure,  pro- 
bably it  must  be  explained  as  by  Syncellus,  by  the  fact  that 
a  number  of  Scythians  settled  here  on  the  occasion  of  their 

"2*  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lagarde,  p.  269:  KxuxO.  Koiy./)  rvj;  'Apsißixs 
d;  'in  Koiuxdx  'hiyoy.kyin  .  .  .  x-sirxt  Sf  kxI  tri  kxI  vv'j  \'j  'YpcL%u'Jt  Tt'hriijiov 
Tioarpuy. 

224a  fije  statements  of  Eusebius  are  not  quite  trustworthy.  He  calls  e.g. 
Jabis  at  one  time  vroXt;  (p.  225),  at  another  Kuy./i  (p.  268). 

225  Le  Quien,  Oricns  christ.  ii.  867. 

2^^  See  in  general,  Reland,  pp.  992-998.  Winer,  s.v.  "Beth-sean."  Raumer, 
p.  150  sq.  Pauly's  Enc.  vi.  1.  729.  Robinson,  Palestine,  iii.  326-332. 
Ritter,  xv.  1.  426-435.  Kuhn,  ii.  371.  Gueriu,  Samarie,  i.  284-299. 
The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii. 
83,  101-114  (with  plans)  ;  also  sheet  ix.  of  the  large  English  chart. 

227  In  the  Old  Test.,  Josh.  xvii.  11,  16  ;  Judg.  i.  27  ;  1  Sam.  xxxi.  10, 12  ; 
2  Sam.  xxi.  12  ;  1  Kings  iv.  12  ;  1  Chron.  vii.  29.  On  the  identity  of  Beth- 
.sean  and  Scythopolis,  see  Josepli.  Antt.  \.  1.  22,  vi.  14.  8,  xii.  8.  5,  xiii.  6.  1, 
The  gloss  of  the  LXX.  on  Judg.  i.  27.  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lag.  p.  2ß7. 
Steph.  Byz.  (see  next  note). 

223  jj^'^  n^n  in  the  Mishna,  AboJa  sara  i.  4,  iv.  12.  The  adj.  ''jj^ia,  Pea 
viii.  1.  Comp.  Neubauer,  Geographie  du  Talmud,  p.  174  sq.  Steph.  Byz. 
s.v.  '2kvÖ6xo'äi;,  Yia.'Ket.ia-ivYi;  'JTO'Kk;  sj  Nwtr*);  (1.  Nwo-st)  KoiXvi; '^•jpix;,  'Sx.vduv 
TTö'X/j,  -TrpÖTtpov  Seiiirco'j  hiyöfMv/}  wxo  -rciiv  ß»pßc(.puy.  The  form 
Beisau  is  contracted  from  Beth-sean. 

223  ^y^vduv  TT&'X/,',  Judith  iü.  11  ;  2  Macc.  xii.  29  ;  LXX.  Judg.  i.  27. 
Polybius,  V.  70.     Aristides,  ed.  Dindorf,  ü.  470. 


§23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       Ill 

great  invasion  of  Palestine  in  the  seventh  century  before 
Christ.^^^  On  the  name  Nysa,  which  Scythopolis  also  bore 
according  to  Pliny,  Stephanus  Byz.,  and  which  is  found 
upon  coins,  see  above,  p.  20.  The  town  was  perhaps 
already  known  by  its  Greek  name  Scythopolis  in  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  or  at  any  rate  in  the  third  century 
before  Christ,  when  it  was  tributary  to  the  Ptolemies."^^^  When 
in  218  B.c.  Antiochus  the  Great  invaded  Palestine,  the  town 
willingly  («aö'  ofioXo'yiav)  surrendered  to  him.^*^  Like  the 
rest  of  Palestine  however  it  did  not  come  permanently  under 
Syrian  dominion  till  twenty  years  later  (198  B.c.).  In  the 
time  of  the  Maccabees  Scythopolis  is  mentioned  as  a  heathen 
town,  but  not  as  one  hostile  to  the  Jews  (2  Mace.  xii. 
29-31).  Towards  the  end  of  the  second  century  (about  107 
B.c.)  it  came  under  Jewish  rule,  the  weak  Antiochus  IX. 
(Kyzikenos)  being  unable  to  offer  effectual  resistance  to  the 
advance  of  John  Hyrcanus,  nay  his  general  Epicrates 
treacherou.sly  surrendering  Scythopolis  to  the  Jews  (Joseph. 
Antt.  xiii.  10.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  2.  7  speaks  otherwise).^^^     Hence 

2'o  Syucell.  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  405 :  'S.-Kwdui  t/jv  UuT^ocistiuyiv  Kxriloxfiov  kocI 
rr,v  B«<raf  (1.  B«/«?«»)  Kxria-ycou  t7!v  £|  ccvruy  y.'hyi6il<s tt'j  '^x.vSit'JTt/ktu.  On  the 
invasion  of  the  Scythiun.s,  see  especially  Herodotus,  i.  105.  Euseb.  Cliron., 
cd.  Schoene,  ii.  88  sq.  Pliny  too  and  his  successor  Solinus  derive  the  name 
from  the  Scythians,  but  indeed  from  those  whom  the  god  Dionysius  settled 
there  for  the  protection  of  the  grave  of  his  nurse  :  Plinins,  v.  18.  74 : 
Scythpolim,  antea  Xysani,  a  Libero  Patre  sepulta  nutrice  ibi  Scythis 
deductis.  Solinus  (f.d.  Mommseu),  c.  36  :  Liber  Pater  cum  humo  nutricem 
tradidi.<set,condidifcLocoppidum,  ut  sepulturae  titulum  etiam  urbis  moenibus 
arapUaret.  Incolae  deerant .  e  comitibus  suis  Scythas  delegit,  quos  ut  aiumi 
firmaret  ad  proraptam  rcsistendi  violentiam,  praemiura  loci  nomen  dedit. 
For  another  and  equally  mythological  derivation  from  the  Scythians,  see 
Malalas,  ed.  Dindorf,  p.  140,  and  Cedrenus,  ed.  Bekker,  i.  237.  In  general 
Stcph.  Byz.  also  explains  the  name  by  1x.viu-j  -jzota;  (see  note  228).  The 
derivation  from  Sukkoth  is  obviated  by  the  fact,  that  the  Hebrew  nanif  of 
the  town  is  not  Sukkoth  but  Beth -scan. 

2''i  Joseph.  AnU.  xii.  4. .").  Comp,  above,  p.  ;J3.  It  wouM  be  a  more  ancient 
testimony  to  the  use  of  the  Greek  name,  if  the  reference  of  the  lettere  Ix.  on 
certain  coins  of  Alexander  the  Great  to  Scythopolis  were  certain.  See  L. 
iliiller,  Xnmismatiipie  (V Alexandre  le  Grand,  p.  304,  planches,  u.  1429,  1464. 

-"32  Polyb.  V.  70.     Stark,  Gaza,  p.  381. 

^33  On  the  chronology,  comp,  above,  §  8. 


112        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

we  find  it  also  in  the  possession  of  Alexander  Jannaeus  {Antt. 
xiii.  15.  4).  It  was  again  separated  from  the  Jewish  region 
by  Pompey  {Antt.  xiv.  5.  3,  xiv.  4.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7), 
and  restored  by  Gabinius  {Antt.  xiv.  5.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8.  4). 
It  afterwards  continued  to  be  an  independent  town  under 
Eonian  supremacy.  Nor  did  either  Herod  or  his  successors 
ever  possess  the  town.  Its  membership  among  the  cities  of 
Decapolis  is  testified  by  Joseplms,  who  calls  it  "  one  of  the 
largest  towns  of  Decapolis  "  {Bell.  Jud.  iii.  9.  7  :  ^  he  iarc 
fieyia-TT]  tt}?  AeKaTToXeox;).  It  is  not  quite  certain  what  era 
it  made  use  of.  The  Pompeian  era  is  evidently  used  on  a 
coin  of  Gordianus ;  while  upon  others  a  later  one  seems 
adopted.  The  titles  of  the  town,  especially  upon  the  coins 
of  Gordianus,  are  iGpa  aavXo^.-^^  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Jewish  war,  A.D.  66,  the  revolted  Jews  attacked  the  district 
of  Scythopolis  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1).  The  Jewish  inhabit- 
ants found  themselves  obliged,  for  the  sake  of  safety,  to  fight 
on  the  side  of  the  heathen  against  their  fellow-countrymen, 
who  were  attacking  the  town.  The  heathen  inhabitants  how- 
ever afterwards  requited  this  alliance  by  faithless  treachery, 
luring  them  into  the  sacred  grove,  and  then  surprising  them 
by  night  and  massacring  them  to  the  number,  as  it  is  said, 
of  13,000  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  3,  4,  vii.  8.  7  ;  Vita,  6).  When 
Josephus  says  with  respect  to  the  period  of  the  Jewish  war, 
that  Scythopolis  was  then  obedient  to  King  Agrippa  {Vita, 
65,  ed.  Bekker,  p.  341,  20  :  t?)?  vtttjkoov  ßaaiXei),  this  is 
certainly  not  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  actual  subjec- 
tion, but  only  means,  that  Scythopolis  was  on  the  side  of 
Agrippa  and    the    Eomans.^^^      The   district    of    Scythopolis 

^^*  See  on  the  coins  and  the  era,  Belley  in  the  Meinoires  des  luscr.  et 
Belles-Lettres,  ancient  series,  vol.  xxvi.  1759,  pp.  415-428.  Eckhel,  iii.  438- 
440.  Mionnet,  v.  511  sq.  ;  Siippl.  viii.  355  sq.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  287-290, 
pi.  xiv.  n.  8-13. 

235  This  is  all  that  Josephus  is  in  the  context  concerned  with.  It  is  highly 
improbable  that  Scythopolis  really  belonged  (as  Menke  in  his  Bibel- Atlas 
supposes)  to  the  dominions  of  Agripj^a,  since  Josephus  in  the  passages  in 
which  he  is  describing  accurately  the  realm  of  Agrippa  does  not  mention  it. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       113 

must  be  regarded  as  very  extensive.  At  the  taking  of  Scytho- 
polis  and  Philoteria  (a  town  of  that  name  on  the  Lake  of 
Gennesareth  of  which  we  know  nothing  else)  by  Antiochus 
the  Great,  in  the  year  218,  Poly  bins  remarks,  that  the  district 
subject  to  these  two  towns  could  easily  furnish  abundant 
support  for  the  whole  army."^^  We  have  also  similar  testi- 
mony at  a  later  date,  viz.  that  of  Josephus  {Vita,  9),  that  the 
district  of  Scythopolis  bordered  on  that  of  Gadara  (see  above, 
p.  88).  The  district  of  this  town  is  also  mentioned  Bell. 
Jud.  iv.  8.  2.  The  subsequent  history  of  Scythopolis,  which 
remained  for  centuries  an  important  and  flourishing  town, 
cannot  be  further  pursued  here.  On  its  religious  rites,  games 
and  industry,  compare  above,  pp.  19,  27,  41. 

20.  Pclla,  niXka.  The  district  of  Pella  is  designated  by 
Josephus  as  the  northern  boundary  of  Peraea.^^^  According 
to  Eusebius,  the  Jabesh  of  Scripture  was  only  6  7n.  p.  from 
Pella,  on  the  road  from  this  latter  to  Gerasa.^^^  Now  as  Gerasa 
lies  south  of  the  present  Wadi  Jabis,  Pella  must  have  lain 
a  little  to  the  north  of  it,  and  hence  it  is  almost  certain,  that 
the  important  ruins  at  Fahil,  on  a  terrace  over  the  Jordan  valley 
opposite  Scythopolis  in  a  south-easterly  direction,  mark  the 
position  of  the  ancient  Pella.^^^     That  it  stood  here  is  further 

-^^  Polyb.  V.  70:  iv&xpau;  hx^  ""^poe:  tu;  ^i'h'Xovact;  iTrißo'Koi;  ^i*  to  toj» 
ü~OTiT oc'/fiiviov  xupctv  recig  vo'hiai  Totvroii;  pefOiu;  Qvuoiddxi  ttxvti  t' 
oTp*T0'!7iQCfi  piCp^jijysiv  xai  ox<pt7\^  TrcepxaicivK^eiu  rci  x-ccrfziiyovrot.  7rp6;  tvi'j  xP-'^^. 

^^^  Jkll.  Jud.  iii.  3.  3.  Pcraca  is  here  taken  in  its  political  meaning,  i.e. 
•with  the  exclusion  of  the  towns  of  Decapolis  (cuinp.  above,  p.  2).  In  a 
geograijhical  sense,  it  reaches  much  farther  northward,  comprising  e.g.  even 
Gadara  {Bell.  Jud.  iv.  7.  3). 

238  Euseb.  Onomast..  ed.  Lag.  p.  225  :  ij  oi  'lüßi;  tTriKiiu»  rov  '  looOxi/au  vvv 
iOTi  fCiyt'iTTi)  voKig^  TiiXKrig  -Troh-tu;  OnaTua*  arif^tiioti  y'  üutövTuv  kvi  Yipxaxv. 
Similarly,  p.  "268  (where  however  Jabis  is  more  correctly  called  a  KUf^ri). 

-39  Comp.  Robinson's  Palestine,  iii.  320-325.  Ritter,  xv.  2.  1023-1030. 
Raumer,  p.  254.  Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  288-2'j2.  Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan 
(1881),  pp.  442-447.  On  the  history,  Relaud,  p.  924  sq.  Droyseu, 
JI(llc7iismiis,  iii.  2.  204  sq.  Kuhn,  ii.  374.  There  is  but  slight  foundation 
for  the  objection  raised  by  Kruse  (Seetzen's  Ileiscn,  iv.  198  sqq.)  to  tlie 
above  determination  of  the  locality.  Korb's  thorough  discussion  of  the 
situation  of  Pella  (Jahu's  .Jahrb.  für  Philologie  und  Paedagogik,  4th  year, 
vol.  L  1829,  pp.  100-118)  places  the  situation  too  far  northward  by  partially 
DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  H 


114        §  23.    CONSTITUTION^.      I.   THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

borne  out  by  the  fact  that  Pliny  describes  Pella  as  aq^uis  divitem?*^ 
Whether  the  original  Semitic  name  was  Fahil  (x^na  ?),  and  the 
name  Pella  chosen  by  the  Greeks  on  account  of  its  similarity 
of  sound,  may  be  left  iiucertain.^^"'^  In  any  case  the  name 
Pella  was  borrowed  from  the  famous  Macedonian  town  of  the 
same  name.  The  latter  being  the  birthplace  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  it  is  not  improbable  that  our  Pella  as  well  as  the 
neighbouring  Dium  was  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great  him- 
self, as  indeed  the  somewhat  corrupt  text  of  Stephanus  Byz. 
declares.^^^  According  to  another  passage  of  Steplianus  Byz. 
our  Pella  was  also  called  JBoOxi«?.-^^  Pella  is  first  mentioned 
in  history  at  tlie  conquest  of  Palestine  by  Antiochus  the 
Great,   b.c.    218,    when   after    taking  Atabyrion   (Tabor)    he 

placing  in  the  foreground  the  statements  of  Josephus,  and  neglecting  to  do 
justice  to  the  more  precise  statements  of  Eusebius. 

2"  Plinius,  V.  18.  74. 

240a  Tuch,  Qaaestioncs  dc  Flavii  Josephi  libris  historicis  (Lii^s.  1859),  p.  18, 
altogether  regards  Pella  as  only  the  Greek  pronunciation  for  s^riQ,  and 
scouts  the  idea  of  any  connection  with  the  name  of  the  Macedonian  town. 
This  is  however  more  than  improbable. 

^*'  Steph.  Byz.  ed.  Meineke,  s.v.  Ahv,  ncoKii;  .  .  .  Koi\/i;  Ivplag,  ktIoi^o. 
A'As^aulpov.,  X.CCI  IIs'AXc«.  The  words  nul  Ile^tXBs  are  probably  the  gloss  of 
some  learned  reader,  who  thus  meant  to  say  that  Pella  as  well  as  Dium  was 
founded  by  Alexander  the  Great.  The  reading  i;  kxI  n^xx«  is  an  erroneous 
emendation  by  some  former  editor.  Comp,  also  Droysen,  iii.  2.  204  sq. 
A  Syrian  Pella  is  also  mentioned  among  the  cities  founded  by  Seleucus  I. 
in  Appian.  Syr.  57,  and  Euseb.  Chro7i.,  ed.  Schoene,  ii.  116  sq.  According 
to  the  Latin  text  of  Jerome :  Seleucus  Antiochiam  Laodiciam  Seleuciam 
Apamiam  Edessam  Beroeam  et  Pellam  urbes  condidit.  So  also  Syncell.,  ed. 
Dindorf,  i.  520,  and  the  Armenian  text  of  Eusebius,  in  which  only  Seleucia 
is  missing.  By  this  Pella  however  we  must  probably  understand  the  town 
of  Apamea  on  the  Orontes,  which  was  at  first  called  by  its  founder 
Seleucus  I.  Apamea,  and  afterwards  Pella,  which  name  was  subsequently 
lost  (see  especially  Malalas,  ed.  Dindorf,  p.  203  [according  to  Pausauias 
Damascenus,  comp.  Müller,  Fragm.  hist,  grace,  iv.  470]  ;  also  Strabo,  xvi. 
p.  752  ;  Stephanus  Byz.  s.f.  '' A-TrüfAsix ;  in  Diodor.  xxi.  25,  Apamea  occurs 
under  the  name  of  Pella,  see  Wesseling's  note  on  the  passage).  It  is  true 
that  the  lists  in  Appian  and  Eusebius  mention  Pella  along  with  Apamea 
as  though  they  were  two  different  cities.  This  mistake  has  however 
arisen  from  the  circumstance,  that  the  change  of  name  has  been  looked 
upon  as  a  second  founding,  and  treated  accordingly  in  the  lists  of  founda- 
tions of  towns.     Hence  indeed  our  Pella  (in  Decapolis)  is  out  of  question. 

^^-  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  IIsAA«.  tto'A;?  .   .  .    K&/a>5c  Ivplctg.,  7;  BovTii  "hiyoyAvrt. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        115 

turned  towards  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan  and  seized  Pella, 
Kamus,  and  Gephrus.^^^  Alexander  Jannaeus  conquered  and 
destroyed  the  town,  because  its  inhabitants  would  not  adopt 
"Jewish  customs  "  {Bell  Jud.  i.  4.  8  ;  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4).^^^^"  It 
was  again  sejDarated  from  the  Jewish  region  by  Pompey  {Antt. 
xiv.  4.  4 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  7).  The  fact  of  its  having  belonged 
to  Decapolis  is  attested  by  Eusebius  and  Epiphanius  as  well  as 
by  Pliny  and  Ptolemy ,^^*  The  few  coins  which  have  been 
preserved  bear,  as  might  be  expected,  the  Pompeian  era.^*'^ 
When  Pella  is  named  in  Josephus  {Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  5)  among 
the  chief  places  of  the  eleven  toparchies  of  Judaea,  this  must 
be  ascribed  either  to  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  Josephus  him- 
self or  to  an  error  in  the  text.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
Jewish  war  Pella  was  attacked  by  the  insurgent  Jews  {Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  18.  1).  During  the  war  the  Christian  Church  fled  thither 
from  Jerusalem.^*®  Christian  bishops  of  Pella  are  mentioned 
in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  after  Christ.^^'' 

21.  Bium,  Alov.  Among  the  towns  of  this  name,  of  which 
Steph.  Byz.  enumerates  seven,  that  in  Macedonia  at  the  foot 
of  Olympus  is  the  best  known.  Hence  it  is  very  credible, 
that  our  Dion  in  Coelesyria  was  a  foundation  of  Alexander  the 
Great.^^*  According  to  the  astronomical  definitions  of  Ptolemy 
(v.  15.  23),  Dium  lay  under  the  same  degree  of  latitude  as 

2*3  Polyb.  V.  70. 

2*3a  Jn  the  last  passage  also  our  Pella  is  certainly  inteuded,  and  not 
another  Moabitc  one.  Josephus  only  names  Pella  quite  at  the  end  of  the 
list  after  enumerating  the  Moabite  towns,  because  he  desires  to  append  a 
special  remark  concerning  it.     Comp.  Tuch,  Qnaesliones,  etc.,  pp.  17-19. 

21*  Pliu.  V.  18.  74.  Ptolem.  v.  15.  23.  Euseb.  OnomasL,  ed.  Lag.  p.  251. 
Epiphanius,  Haer.  29.  7  ;  dc  mcnsiiris  el  ponder.  §  15. 

-■•^  See  Belley  in  the  M<finoircs  dc  VAcade'mie  des  Inscr.  et  Delias- Lettres, 
ancient  series,  vol.  xxviii.  5C8  sqq.  Eckhel,  iii.  350.  Micunet,  v.  329  ; 
Suppl.  viii.  232.     De  Saulcy,  pp.  291-293,  pi.  xvi.  n.  8. 

2*6  Euseb.  Hist,  eccl.  iii.  5.  2,  3  ;  Epiphanius,  Haer.  29.  7  ;  de  mensuris  et 
ponder.  §  15. 

2*^  Le  Quien,  Oriens  christ.  iii.  698  sq. 

2*8  So  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Alou  (see  above,  note  241).  Stcphauus  remarks 
5;  TO  voiip  uoaipov,  and  quotes  the  following  epigram  : — 

uxf4,x  TO  SiYj:>6v  yTvVKSpou  ^07C/'i/,  ijvidi  'TtIyj;, 
iruvoii  y.lv  hi\pyi;,  ivdii  hi  y,ocl  ßiorov. 


116        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Pell  a,  but  ^  of  a  degree  farther  eastward.  With  this  agree 
the  statements  of  Josephus  concerning  Pompey's  route,  that 
the  Jewish  king  Aristobuhis  accompanied  Pompey  on  his 
march  from  Damascus  against  the  Nabataeans  as  far  as 
Dium,  that  here  he  suddenly  separated  from  Pompey,  who 
therefore  now  turned  suddenly  westward  and  came  by  Pella 
and  Scythopolis  to  Judaea.^^^  Little  is  known  of  the  history 
of  Dium.^®"  It  was  conquered  by  Alexander  Jannaeus  {Antt. 
xiii.  15.  3),  liberated  by  Pompey  {Antt.  xiv.  4.  4),  and  then 
belonged  to  Decapolis  (Plin.  v,  18.  74;  Ptolem.  v.  15.  23). 
The  coins  of  Dium,  with  the  legend  AeiTjvayv,  have  the 
Pompeian  era.  Some  of  those  belonging  to  the  time  of 
Caracalla  and  Geta  are  still  in  existence.^"^  The  A  ia  mentioned 
by  Hierocles  is  certainly  identical  with  this  Dium.^^^ 

22.  Gerasa,  Tepaaa.  The  ruins  of  the  present  Dscharasch 
are  the  most  important  in  the  region  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  are 
indeed  (with  those  of  Palmyra,  Baalbec  and  Petra)  among  the 
most  important  in  Syria.  There  are  still  in  existence  con- 
siderable remains  of  temples,  theatres  and  other  public 
buildings.  About  one  hundred  columns  of  a  long  colonnade, 
which  ran  through  the  middle  of  the  town,  are  still  standing. 
The  buildings  seem  from  their  style  to  belong  to  the  second  or 
third  century  after  Christ. ^^^     Pew  inscriptions  have  as  yet 

2*9  Joseph.  Antt.  xiv.  3.  3,  4  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  6.  4,  fin.  Also  Menkes  Bibel- 
Atlas,  sheet  iv.  In  both  passages  indeed  Dium  first  came  into  the  text 
through  Dindorf's  emendations.  The  older  editions  have,  Antt.  xiv.  3.  3  : 
ilg  A'/^'Kiov  TToAiv  ;  Bell.  .Jud.  i.  6.  4  :  axo  ^iMizö'hiUi.  As  certain  manuscripts 
have  äTTo  "hio^  ii'KiovTro'hscag  (see  Cardwell's  ed.)  we  might  feel  inclined  to 
read  Heliopolis  in  both  passages.     Bnt  the  context  makes  this  impossible. 

250  Comp.  Reland,  p.  736  sq.     Raumer,  p.  247.     Kuhn,  iii.  382  sq. 

251  See  Belley  in  the  Meinoires  de  VAcademie  des  Inscr.  et  Belles- Lettres^ 
ancient  series,  vol.  xxviii.  568  sqq.  Eckhel,  iii.  847  sq.  Mionuet,  v.  32  j 
Suppl.  viii.  26.     De  Saulcy,  pp.  378-383,  pi.  xix.  n.  8,  9. 

252  Hierocles,  Synecd.,  ed.  Parthey,  p.  45.  The  Notitia  episcopal. ,  the  same, 
p.  92.     Also  in  Joseph.  Antt.  xii.  15.  3  the  manuscripts  have  A/«». 

2**  See  in  general,  Seetzen,  Reisen,  i.  388  sq.,  iv.  202  sqq.  Burckhardt, 
Reisen,  i.  401-il7,  530-536  (with  plan).  Buckingham,  Travels  in  Palestine, 
1821,  pp.  353-405.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xv.  2.  1077-1094.  Bädeker-Socin, 
Palästina,  p.  408  sqq.  (with  plan).  Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan,  pp.  281-290. 
Illustrations,  Laborde,  Voyage  en  Orieiit  (Paris  1837  sq.),  livniison  9,  16, 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        Il7 

been  publisliecl.^"^  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  here  was 
the  ancient  Gerasa.^"'^  The  derivation  of  the  name  from 
yepovTe'i  (veterans)  of  Alexander  the  Great,  who  settled 
here,  is  based  only  upon  etymological  trifling.^'"  It  is 
certainly  possible,  that  the  foundation  of  Gerasa  as  a 
Hellenistic  town  may  reach  as  far  back  as  Alexander  the 
Great.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  the  time  of  Alexander 
Jannaeus,  when  it  was  in  the  power  of  a  certain  Theodorus 
(a  son  of  the  tyrant  Zeno  Kotylas  of  Philadelphia).  It  was 
conquered  after  an  arduous  siege  by  Alexander  Jannaeus 
towards  the  end  of  his  reign.^^^  It  was  while  still  defendinjr 
the  fortress  Eagaba  "  in  the  district  of  Gerasa  "  that  he  died.^^^ 
Gerasa  was  undoubtedly  liberated  by  Pompey,  for  it  belonged 
to  Decapolis.^^'^  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Jewish  war  it  was 
attacked  by  the  Jews  (Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1);  yet  the  Jews 
dwelling  in  the  town  were  spared  by  the  inhabitants  (Bell. 
Jud.  ii.   18.    5).      The   Gerasa   conquered   and   destroyed   by 

34,  35.  Rey,  Voyarje  dans  le  Ilaouran  et  mix  lords  de  la  mer  morte  execute 
pendant  Ics  ann^es  1857  and  1858  (Paris),  Atlas  pi.  xix.-xxiii.  (pi.  xxi.  plan). 
Due  de  Luynes,  Voyage  d' Exploration  ä  la  mer  morte  ä  Petra  et  sur  la  rive 
gauche  du  Jourdain,  Paris  s.  a.  (1874),  Atlas,  pi.  50-57.  Also  Riehm's 
Wörterb.  s.v.  "  Gadara." 

25*  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec.  n.  4Gfil-46G4.  Corp.  Inscr.  Lat.  vol.  iii.  n. 
118,  119.  Wetzstein,  Ausgewühlte  Inschriften  (Trans,  of  the  Berlin  Acad. 
1863),  n.  205-2Ü7.  Böckli,  Report  of  the  Berlin  Acad.  1835,  p.  14  sqq.  Allen, 
American  Journal  of  Philologij,  vol.  iii.  (Baltimore  1882),  p.  206.  Quarlcrlg 
Statement  of  the  Palestine  Kxjiloratiini  /-'««r/,  1882,  p.  218  sqq.;  1883,  p.  107  sq. 

2"  Compare  on  the  history,  Kcland,  p.  8U6  sqq.  Pauly's  Encycl.m.  770. 
Winer, s.v.  "Gadara."  Räumer,  p.  249  sq.  Ritter,  as  above.  Kuhn,  ii.  370, 
383. 

2*6  See  the  passages  from  Jamblicus  and  the  Etymolog,  magnum  ia 
Droysen,  Hellenismus,  iii.  2.  202  sq.     Also  Reland,  p.  806. 

^''''  Bell.  Jud.  i.  4.  8-  In  the  parallel  passage  Antt.  xiii.  15.  3,  'Y-aa»» 
stands  instead  of  Yiootauu.  The  reading  in  Bell.  Jud.  is  however  certainly 
the  correct  one. 

258  Antt.  xiii.  15.5.  Ragaba  can  hardly  be  identical  with  the  'F.pyoc  of  Euse- 
bius  (p.  216),  which  lay  15  m.  p.  we.stwar-d  of  Gerasa,  and  was  therefore  cer- 
tainly under  the  power  of  Akxainler  Jannaeus  before  the  conquest  of  Gerasa. 

259  Ptolem.  V.  1.5.  23.  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Tepxa»,  voXig  rii;  Koi>.n;  ^vpixs, 
rii;  liKocTTcXiu;  (for  such  is  the  reading,  as  by  Meinekc,  instead  of  the 
traditional  rsaactpiaKetihiKonvöMu;).  Plinius,  v.  18.  74.  names  Galasa,  for 
which  we  must  read  Gerasa,  among  the  cities  of  Decapolis. 


118        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Lucius  Annius  at  the  command  of  Vespasian  {Bell.  Jud. 
iv.  9.  1)  cannot  be  this  Gerasa,  which  as  a  Hellenistic  town 
was  certainly  friendly  to  the  Eomans.  The  few  coins  of 
Gerasa  (from  Hadrian  to  Alexander  Severus)  have  no  era 
and  contain  no  epithet  of  the  city.  They  almost  all  have  the 
superscription  "Aprefjici  tv-^^tj  Tepaawv."^^  On  an  inscription 
of  the  time  of  Trajan  the  inhabitants  are  called  ^AvTio^^h 
Trpb'i  To)  Xpvaopoa.'^^  Upon  another  inscription,  also  of  the 
Eoman  period,  the  town  is  called  Tepacra  ^Avri6')(^€ta^^^^ 
In  an  ethnographic  sense  Gerasa  must  be  reckoned  part  of 
Arabia,^^^  but  seems  even  in  the  second  century  after  Christ 
to  have  belonged  to  the  province  of  Syria  and  only  subse- 
quently to  have  been  incorporated  in  that  of  Arabia.^''^  In 
the  fourth  century  after  Christ  it  was  one  of  the  most 
important  towns  of  this  province.^^     Its  district  was  so  large, 

260  Eckhel,  iii.  3,50.  Mionnet,  v.  329  ;  Suppl.  viii.  230  sq.  De  Saulcy,  p. 
384  sq.,  pi.  xxii.  n.  1,  2. 

-61  ]\IommseD,  Berichte  der  sächsisch.  Oesellsch.  d.  Wissensch.,  philol-hist. 
Classe,  vol.  ii.  1850,  p.  223.  Waddington,  n.  1722.  The  inscription  was 
set  up  in  honour  of  A.  Julius  Quadratus,  the  imperial  legate  of  Syria,  and 
indeed  in  his  native  Pergamos  (where  the  inscription  was  discovered). 
The  Gerasenes  designate  themselves  according  to  AVaddington's  completion, 
[  .\vrio]x^^^  ■J"^"  {j^P^i  '!^'\v  y^pvaopocc  tuu  '7r\_p6r'\ipo'j  [Tf\pcc(jyiuuu  5j  ßovTi'/i  y,xi 
0  S^[,4toj].  No  other  place  in  Syria  is  known  by  the  name  of  Chrysorrhoas 
except  the  Nuhr  Barada  near  Damascus  (Strabo,  xvi.  p.  755.  Plin.  v.  18. 
74.  Ptolem.  v.  15.  9).  It  is  self-evident  that  this  cannot,  as  Mommsen 
strangely  assumes,  be  intended  here.  On  the  contrary,  we  find  that  the 
rivulet  Kerwan  running  through  Gerasa  was  also  called  Chrysorrhoas  (see 
Bädeker,  p.  409). 

261^  American  Journal  of  Philology,  vol.  iii.  (Baltimore  1882)  p.  206, 
communicated  by  Allen,  from  a  copy  by  Merrill.  The  inscription  was 
found  in  Gerasa  itself.  It  is  an  epitaph  consisting  of  four  distichs  on  a 
woman  of  the  name  of  Juliana  from  Antioch.  She  died  in  the  course  of 
her  journey  in  Gerasa  and  was  buried  there,  and  it  is  said  of  her  in  the 
epitaph  that  she  will  not  now  return  to  her  home  in  Antioch,  dXK'  'ihotxiv 
y»i[yi\g  [r]£|s[«](r[)7j]  ,u,ipoi  '' \uTtoy,iini-  That  the  inscription  belongs  to 
the  Roman  period  is  shown  by  the  name  Juliana. 

262  Origenes  in  Joann.  vol.  vi.  c.  24  (^Opp.  ed.  Lommatzsch,  i.  239),  Tipxca 
is  riig  '  Apcißt'xi  sari  TrÖTiig. 

263  See  Marquardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  1.  433,  note  1. 

264  Ammian.  Marc.  xiv.  8.  13  :  Haec  quoque  civitates  habet  inter  oppida 
quaedam    ingentes   Bostram   et    Gerasam   atquo   PhiladeJphi'Xm    murorum 


§  23.    C0:N"ST1TUTI0N.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOAVKS.        119 

that  Jerome  could  say,  that  what  was  formerly  Gilead  was 
now  called  Gerasa.'*^^*  Famous  men  of  Gerasa  are  mentioned 
by  Steph.  Byz.^^  The  names  too  of  certain  Christian  bishops 
are  well  known.*"* 

23.  PJiiladclphia,  ^tXaSeX^eta,  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Ammonites  called  in  the  0.  T,  "Eabbah  of  the  Ammonites" 
(jirsy  "ija  ri|i"i),  i.e.  the  chief  city  of  the  Ammonites,  or  more 
shortly  "  Eabbah  "  (nai).^^^  In  Tolybius  it  is  called  Eabbat- 
Amana,^"^  in  Eusebius  and  Steph.  Byz.  Amman  and  Ammana.^*^ 
The  situation  of  the  town  is  certainly  evidenced  by  the  ruins 
south  of  Gerasa,  which  to  this  day  bear  the  name  of  Ammana. 
The  ruins  belong,  like  those  of  Kanatha,  to  the  Eoman  period.^''* 
The  town  received  the  name  of  Philadelphia  from  Ptolemy  II. 

fiimitate   cautissimas.     Comp.    Euseb.    Onomast.   p.    2-i2.      Ttpxacc^    '7r6>.ig 

264a  Hieronyraus  in  Ohadjam  v.  19  (Vallarsi,  vi.  381):  Benjamin  autem 
.  .  .  cunctam  possidebit  Arabiam,  quae  prius  vocabatur  Galaad  et  nunc 
Gerasa  uuncupatur.     Comp,  also  Neubauer,  Geographie  du  Talmud,  p.  250. 

2''*  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Yioetact'  l^  xiirin  ^Apiarav  p'/iroip  donlö;  hriu  .  .  .  kxI 
KvjpvKo;  aoittiT/ii  xctl  IWoctuv  vo^iko;  py-'^p.  To  these  must  also  be  added 
the  Neo-Pythagorean  philosopher  and  mathematician  Xicomachus  of  Gerasa, 
second  century  after  Christ  (Fabric.  Bill  grace,  ed.  Harless,  v.  629  sqq.). 

2*56  Epiphan.  Hatr.  73.  26.     Le  Quien,  Oriens  christ.  ii.  859  sq. 

267  Deut.  iii.  11  ;  Josh.  xiii.  2ö ;  2  Sam.  xi.  1,  xii.  26-29,  xvii.  27  ; 
Jer.  xlix.  2,  3  ;  Ezek.  xxi.  25,  xxv.  5 ;  Amos  i.  14 ;  1  Chron.  xx.  1.  On 
the  identity  of  Kabbah  of  the  Ammonites  with  Philadelphia,  see  below  the 
passages  from  Eusebius  (note  269),  Steph.  Byz.  and  Jerome  (note  271). 

268  Polyb.  V.  71,  'P«/3,3«r«j£t«ev9f.  So  too  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  '  FxßßxTÜpc,- 
f^ctvx,  Tzohti  rijs  opuv^g  'Apctßiccs. 

269  Euseb.  OnomasL,  ed.  Lagarde,  p.  215,  'A/n/neiv  i}  vvu  ^/XaotA^/«, 
'Tcd'hii  iirio-^^oi;  r'/ii^ hpoL^ictg.  Ibid.  p.  219,  .\f^p(.üv  .  .  .  ccvtyi  larlv  \.[*y.si.v 
ij  Kul  ^i'ha.Oi'^$iot,  iro'Ki;  irria/i/xoi  riig  Aoußixg.  Comp.  ihid.  p.  288, 
'Vcißfiöc,  TTo'Ats  ßctat'Atia;  '  Ay./^aiv,  »inn  iorl  'J^i'hocOi'/ifix.  Steph.  Byz.,  see 
note  271. 

2"o  See  in  general,  Seetzen,  Reisen,  i.  396  sqq.,  iv.  212  sqq.  Burckhardt, 
Reisen,  ii.  612-618.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xv.  2.  1145-1159.  De  6aulcy, 
Voyage  en  Terre  Sainte,  1865,  i.  237  sqq.  (with  plan).  Bäueker-Socin, 
Palästina,  p.  318  sqq.  (with  plan).  Merrill,  ImsI  of  tlie  Jordan,  p.  399  sqq. 
Couder,  QuarUrhj  Slatcmcut,  1882,  pp.  99-112.  Illuptrations,  Laborde, 
Voyage  en  Oriint  (Paris  1837  sqq.),  livr.  28,  29.  On  the  history,  besides 
Ritter,  the  article  on  "  Rabbath  Amnion  "'  in  Winer's  Realwiirkrh.,  Her/.ig's 
Rdd-Encyd.  (1st  ed.  xii.  469  sq.),  Schenkel's  Biltllex.,  Riehm's  YVß. 
Kuhn,  ii.  383  sq. 


120       §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

(Philadelphus),  to  whom  consequently  its  Hellenization  is  to 
be  referred.^' ^  lu  the  time  of  Antiochus  the  Great  it  was 
a  strong  fortress,  which  in  the  year  218  B.c.  he  vainly 
endeavoured  to  take  by  storm,  and  of  which  he  was 
unable  to  get  possession,  till  a  prisoner  showed  him  the 
subterranean  path,  by  which  the  inhabitants  came  out  to 
draw  water.  This  being  stopped  up  by  Antiochus,  the  town 
was  forced  to  surrender  for  want  of  water.^"''  About  135  B.c. 
(at  the  death  of  Simon  Maccabaeus)  Philadelphia  was  in  the 
power  of  a  certain  Zenos  Kotylas  {Antt.  xiii.  8.  1  ;  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  2.  4).  It  was  not  conquered  by  Alexander  Jannaeus,  though 
he  had  possession  of  Gerasa  to  the  north  and  Esbon  to  the 
south  of  it.  Hence  Philadelphia  is  not  named  among  the 
towns  which  were  separated  by  Pompey  from  the  Jewish 
region.  It  was  however  joined  by  him  to  the  confederacy  of 
Decapolis^'^  and  had  therefore  the  Pompeian  era.^^^  It  was 
in  its  neighbourhood  that  Herod  fought  against  the  Arabians.^"^ 
In  A,D.  44  sanguinary  contests   took  place  between  the  Jews 

^''^  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  ^t'Kxli'K<p£iec  .  .  .  r^;  l.vpi'u;  l'7n<puv'Ai  voKi;.,  4 
Kpinpov  " \f<,y,otvct,  iiT  'A(7t«pth,  iir»  ^iX»Oeh(piioi  üttÖ  üzo'Kii^xtov  toD 
O/XfltBiXtpof.  Hieronymus  in  Ezek.  c.  25  (Vallarsi,  v.  285)  :  Rabbath,  quae 
hodie  a  rege  Aegypti  Ptolemaeo  cogiioinento  Philadelpho,  qui  Arabiam 
tenuit  cum  Judaea,  Philadelphia  uvincupata  est.  L.  Müller  (Niimismatiquc 
cC Alexandre  le  Grand,  p.  309,  pi.  n.  1473  sqq.)  refers  certain  coins  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  with  the  letters  <bi  to  our  Philadelphia.  Although 
it  would  not  be  impossible  for  coins  with  the  name  of  Alexander  to  be  issued 
in  the  days  of  Ptolemy  II.  (see  note  150,  above),  yet  the  correctness  of  this 
explanation  seems  to  me  very  questionable.  Philoteria  e.g.  (Polyb.  v.  70) 
might  be  intended. 

272  Polyb.  V.  71.  Conder  found  in  his  surveys  at  Amman  a  path,  which 
is  possibly  identical  with  that  mentioned  by  Polybius,  see  Athenssum,  1883, 
n.  2905,  p.  832  :  The  discovery  at  Amman.  Comp,  also  Quarterly  Statement, 
1882,  p.  109. 

273  Plinius,  V.  18.  74. 

274  Chron.  pascliale  (ed.  Dindorf,  i.  351),  ad  Olymp.  179.  2  =  63  B.c., 
^tXct'^:'h(pug  iVTii/Siv  ci.pi6t.<.w(ji  Tovi  loiVTuu  ■)(,p6vovg.  The  era  is  also 
frequently  found  upon  coins.  See  Noris,  iii.  9.  2  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  308-316). 
Eckhel,  iii.  351.  Mionnet,  v.  330-333  ;  Siq^jü.  viii.  232-236.  De  Saulcy, 
pp.  386-392,  pi.  xxii.  ]i.  8-9. 

275  Bell.  Jud.  i.  19.  5.  In  the  parallel  passage  Antt.  xv.  5.  4,  Philadelphia 
is  not  mentioned. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        121 

of  Peraea  and  the  Philadelpliians  concerning  the  boundaries 
of  a  village  called  Mia  in  our  present  text  of  Josephus,  but 
for  which  Zia  is  probably  the  correct  reading  {Antt.  xx.  1.  1).^'® 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Jewish  war,  Philadelphia  was  attacked 
by  the  insurgent  Jews  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1).  Upon  an 
inscription  of  the  second  century  after  Christ  our  Phila- 
delphia is  called  ^iXaBe\(f)eia  t?}?  'ApaßLa<;.^'^  This  is 
however  meant  only  in  an  ethnographical  sense.  For  coins 
down  to  Alexander  Severus  have  the  superscription  ^iXa- 
SeXcfyecov,  Kot\r]<;  Xvpia'i^''^  The  town  therefore  still  belonged 
to  the  province  of  Syria  and  was  probably  allotted  to  the 
province  of  Arabia  towards  the  close  of  the  third  century.^^* 
In  the  fourth  century  it  was  one  of  the  most  important  towns 
of  this  province.^*"  Josephus  mentions  the  district  of  Phila- 
delphia {^iXaBeXcfiijvT])  as  the  eastern  boundary  of  Peraea  (Bell. 
Jud.  iii.  3.  3).  If  the  supposition  be  warranted,  that  Zia  is 
the  correct  reading  in  Joseph.  Antt.  xx.  1.  1,  the  district  of 
Philadelphia  must  have  extended  to  about  1 5  m.  p.  westward 
of  the  town,  in  other  words,  full  half  of  the  land  lying  between 
tlie  Jordan  and  the  town  must  have  belonged  to  the  Phila- 
delphian  district. 

It  is  an  undouhted  fact,  that  all  the  cities  hitherto  described 
formed  indej^endent  political  communities,  which — at  least  after 
the  time  of  Pompey  —  lücre  never  internally  blended  info  an 
organic  U7iity  with  the  Jewish  region,  but  were  at  most  externally 
united  with  it  under  the  same  rider.  Almost  all  of  them  had  a 
chiefly  heathen  population,  which  after  the  third  century  before 

2"6  A  village  of  Zia  lying  15  m.  p.  west  of  Philadelphia  is  meutioned  by 
Eusebius,  Onomast.  p.  258,  x«i  'ioTt  vuv  'Li*  KÜf4.Yi  ü;  oLtto  u  arif^iiu»  <I>.'A«- 
Oi'X<pioti  tTrl  ovaf^eis.  The  supposition  that  Zia  is  the  correct  reading  in  this 
passage  has  been  already  expressed  by  Reland  (p.  897),  Havercauip 
(ou  Joseph.  I.e.)  and  Tuch,  Quacsiioncs  de  Fl.  ./usephi  libris  historicis,  Lips. 
1850,  p.  19  sq. 

2'''  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  Iiiscr.  vol.  iii.  n.  lG20b ;  corap.  above,  p.  25. 

2'3  See  Mionnet,  Sitppl.  viii.  230.     De  Saulcy,  p.  392. 

2"^  Comp.  Marquardt,  i.  433,  note  1. 

^ä"  Amniian.  Marcellin.  xiv.  8.  13  (see  above,  note  261).  Comp,  also 
the  passages  from  Eusebius  (note  269). 


122         §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Christ  became  more  and  more  Hellenistic  in  its  character.  It 
was  only  in  Joppa  and  Jamnia  and  perhaps  in  Azotus,  that 
the  Jewish  element  obtained  during  and  after  the  Maccabaean 
period  the  ascendancy.  But  even  these  towns  with  their 
respective  districts  formed  both  before  and  after  that  time 
independent  political  units. — To  the  same  category  belonged 
also,  as  Kuhn  correctly  admits/^^  the  towns  which  were  re- 
founded  hy  Herod  and  his  sons.  It  is  true,  that  in  many  of 
these  the  population  was  mainly  Jewish.  But  even  where 
this  was  the  case,  the  constitution  was  of  Hellenistic  organiza- 
tion, as  is  shown  especially  in  the  case  of  Tiberias.  In 
most  of  them  however  the  heathen  population  preponderated. 
Hence  we  must  not  assume,  that  they  were  organically 
incorporated  with  the  Jewish  realm,  but  that  they  occupied 
within  it  an  independent  position  similar  to  that  of  the 
older  Hellenistic  towns.  Xay  in  Galilee,  where  it  was 
indeed  impregnated  with  heathen  elements,  the  Jewish 
country  seems,  on  the  contrary,  to  have  been  subordinate  to 
the  newly  built  capitals — first  to  Sepphoris,  then  to  Tiberias, 
then  again  to  Sepphoris  (see  the  articles  concerning  them). 
Among  the  towns  built  by  Herod  certainly  the  two  most  im- 
portant were  Sebaste,  i.e.  Samaria,  and  Caesarea,  the  latter  of 
which  has  been  already  spoken  of  (No.  9).  Of  less  importance 
were  Gaba  in  Galilee  and  Esbon  in  Peraea  (Antt.  xv.  8.  5),  which 
must  also  be  regarded  as  chiefly  heathen  towns,  for  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Jewish  war  they,  like  Ptolemais  and  Caesarea, 
Gerasa  and  Philadelphia,  were  attacked  by  the  insurgent  Jews 
(Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1).  Lastly,  we  have  to  mention  as  towns 
founded  by  Herod,  Antipatris  and  Phasaelis,  Kypros  named 
together  with  the  latter  being  a  mere  castle  near  Jericho  and 
not  a  TToXi?  [Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  9  ;  Antt.  xvi.  5.  2),  which  also 
applies  to  the  fortresses  of  Alexandreion,  Herodeion,  Hyrcania, 
Masada  and  Machaerus.  Among  the  sons  of  Herod,  Archelaus 
founded  only  the  village  (Kcofii])  of  Archelais."^^     Philip,  on  the 

'■^^^  Die  .städtische  and  bürgerliche  Verfassung  des  röm.  Reichs,  ii.  34;G-3J:8. 
2*2  Comp.  Joseph.  .4?*^^   xvii.  13.  1 ;  Ä7itt.  xviii.  2.  2.     Pliuius,  xiii.  4, 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        123 

other  hand,  built  Caesarea  ■«  Panias  and  Julias  =  Bethsaida,  and 
Herod  Antipas  the  cities  of  Sepphoris,  Julias  =  Livias  and 
Tiberias.      These  ten  cities  still  remain  to  be  treated  of: 

24.  >S€&«.s^' =  Samaria.^^^  The  Hellenization  of  the  town 
of  Samaria  (Hebr.  T'l^b')  was  the  work  of  Alexander  the  Great. 
The  Samaritans  had  during  his  stay  in  Egypt,  B.C.  332-331, 
assassinated  Andromachus  his  governor  in  Coelesyria.  Conse- 
quently when  Alexander  returned  from  Egypt  (b.c.  331),  he 
executed  strict  justice  upon  the  offenders  and  planted  Mace- 
donian colonists  in  Samaria.^^*  The  Chronicle  of  Eusebius 
speaks  also  of  a  refoundation  by  Perdiecas,^^  which  could 
only  have  taken  place  during  his  campaign  against  Egypt 
(b.c.  321);  this  is  however  very  improbable  so  soon  after  the 
colonization  by  Alexander  the  Great.  As  in  old  times  so 
now  also  Samaria  was  an  important  fortress.  Hence  it  was 
levelled  by  Ptolemy  Lagos,  when  in  the  year  B.c.  312  he  again 
surrendered   to   Antigonus    the  land  of  Coelesyria,  which  he 

44.  Ptolem.  v.  16.  7.  According  to  the  Tabula  Peutinger.^  Archelais  lay- 
on  the  road  from  Jericho  to  Scythopolis  12  m.  p.  from  Jericho  and  24 
m.  p.  from  Scythopolis.  See  also  Robinson's  Palestine,  iii.  5G9.  Ritter, 
XV.  i.  457.  Gucrin,  Samarie,  i.  235-23H.  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine, 
Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii.  387,  395  sq.,  and  sheet  xv.  of  the 
chart. 

*^  Compare  in  general,  Roland,  pp.  979-983.  Pauly's  Encycl.  vi.  1. 
727  sq.  Winer,  .>f.v. ''Samaria."  Raumer,  p.  159  sq.  Robinson's  Pa/fÄ^/zf^',  iii. 
126,  127.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xvi.  658-666.  Guerin,  Samarie,  ii.  188-210. 
Badeker-Socin,  p.  354  sqq.  Sepp,  Jernsakm,  ii.  66-74.  The  Survey  of 
Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii.  160  sq.,  211-215 
(with  plan),  also  sheet  xv.  of  tlie  large  English  chart. 

28*  Cm-tius,  Unfus,  iv.  8 :  Oneravit  hunc  doloretn  nuntius  mortis  Andro- 
machi,  quem  praefccerat  Syriae  :  vivum  Samaritae  cremaverant.  Ad  cujus 
interitum  vindicandum,  quanta  maxime  celeritate  potuit,  conteudit,  adveni- 
entique  sunt  traditi  tanti  sceleris  auctores.  Euseb.  Chron.,  ed.  Schoene,  ii. 
114  (ad  ann.  Abr.  1680,  according  to  the  Armenian):  Androniachum 
rcgionum  illorum  procuratorera  constituit,  quem  incolae  urbis  Samari- 
tarum  interfecerunt :  quos  Alexander  ab  Egipto  reversus  punivit :  capta 
urbe  Macedonas  nt  ihi  hahitarent  collocavit.  —  So  too  Syncell.,  ed. 
Dindorf,  i.  496  :   tyiV   ^ocy-xaixsi  ttO'Aiv   i'huv  ^ \'/^i^xv6po;   ^loty-ih'jvot;    h    »Crii 

285  See  below,  note  287,  and  also  Droysen,  iii.  2.  204.  Ewald's  Gesch.  des 
Volkes  Israel,  iv.  p.  293. 


124        §23,    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

had  shortly  before  conquered. ^^®  Some  fifteen  years  later 
(about  296  b.c.)  Samaria,  which  had  meanwhile  been  restored, 
was  again  destroyed  by  Demetrius  Poliorcetes  in  his  contest 
with  Ptolemy  Lagos.^^*^  Thenceforward  we  are  for  a  long 
time  without  special  data  for  the  history  of  the  town.  Poly- 
bius  indeed  mentions,  that  Antiochus  the  Great  in  both  his 
first  and  second  conquest  of  Palestine  218  and  198  b.c. 
occupied  the  country  of  Samaria,^^^  but  the  fate  of  the  town 
is  not  further  indicated.  It  is  of  interest  to  find,  that  the 
country  of  Samaria,  under  the  Ptolemies  as  well  as  under 
the  Seleucidae,  formed  like  Judaea  a  single  province,  which 
again  was  subdivided  into  separate  vofioi}^^  Towards  the 
end  of  the  second  century  before  Christ,  when  the  Seleucidian 
Epigouoi  were  no  longer  able  to  prevent  the  encroachments 
of  the  Jews,  the  town  fell  a  victim  to  their  policy  of  conquest ; 
and  Samaria — then  a  7ro\t9  o'^vpcordrrj — was  again  conquered 
in  the  reign  of  John  Hyrcanus  (b.c.  107)  by  his  sons  Anti- 
gonus  and  Aristobulus  after  a  siege  of  a  year,  and  entirely 
given  up  to  destruction  {Antt.  xiii.  10.  2,  3;  Bell.  Jxid.  i. 
2.  7).^^°  Alexander  Jannaeus  had  possession  of  the  town  or  its 
ruins  [Antt  xiii.  15.  4).  It  was  separated  from  the  Jewish 
region  by  Pompey  and  never  henceforth  organically  combined 
with  it  {Antt.  xiv.  4.  4  ;  Bdl.  Jud.  i.  7.  7).  Its  rebuilding  was 
the  work  of  Gabinius  {Antt.  xv.  14.  3 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8. 4),  on  which 
account  its   inhabitants  were  for  a  while  called   Taßi,vLel<ij^^^ 

286  Diodor.  xix.  93.  Comp,  above,  note  52  (Gaza),  109  (Joppa),  151 
(Ptolemais). 

2"  Euseb.  Chron.,  ed.  Schoene,  ii.  118  (ad  Olymp.  121.  1  =  296  B.c.  ac- 
cording to  the  Armenian):  Demetrius  rex  Asianorum,  Poliorcetes  appellatus, 
Samaritanorum  urbem  a  Perdica  constructam  (s.  incolis  freqnentatain)  totam 
cepit.  Syncell.,  ed.  Dindorf ,  i.  519 :  Anuvirpto;  6  IIoA/oox^tsJc  rvivTrot^tv  'S.xft.etpeav 
iTröpSyiieu.     So  too  i.  522.     Comp.  Droysen,  ii.  2.  243,  255.     Stark,  p.  361. 

2S8  Polyb.  V.  71.  11,  xvi.  49= Joseph.  Aiiti.  xii.  3.  3. 

289  See  in  general,  Antt.  xii.  4.  1,  4  ;  1  Mace.  x.  30,  38,  xi.  28,  34. 

2^"  On  the  chronology,  comp,  above,  §  8. 

2*'^  Cedrenus,  ed.  Beker,  i.  323:  rviv  rav  Yccßt'jiuv  (1.  Totßtvtiuv)  '7r6'Kiv,Tii» 
"Tsors  '^ocy.xpaccv  (Herodes)  i7rtx,Tt'aot.;  "S.ißxaTYiv  otiiz'^v  vpoa/iyopsviTS.  Cedrenus 
here  indeed  mistakes  Herod  the  Great  for  Herod  Antipas  and  the  latter 
again  for  Herod  Agrippa. 


§23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        125 

The  town  was  bestowed  upon  Herod  by  Augustus  (Antf. 
XV.  7.  3;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  20.  3);  and  by  his  means  it  first 
regained  prosperity.  Tor  while  it  had  hitherto  been  a  com- 
paratively small  though  strong  town,  its  extent  was  so  greatly 
increased  by  Herod,  that  it  was  now  twenty  stadia  in  circum- 
ference and  not  inferior  to  the  most  important  towns.  In 
the  city  thus  enlarged  Herod  settled  six  thousand  colonists, 
composed  partly  of  disbanded  soldiers,  partly  of  people  from 
the  neighbourhood.  The  colonists  received  excellent  estates. 
The  fortifications  too  were  rebuilt  and  extended,  and  finally 
the  town  obtained  also,  by  the  erection  of  a  temple  to 
Augustus  and  other  magnificent  edifices,  the  splendour  of 
modern  culture.^^^  Herod  gave  to  the  newly-rebuilt  town 
the  name  of  ^eßaa-Ti]  {Antt.  xv.  8.  5;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  2. 
Strabo,  xvi.  p.  860)  in  honour  of  the  emperor,  who  had 
recently  assumed  the  title  of  Augustus.  The  coins  of  the 
town  bear  the  inscription  Xeßaarrjvoyv  or  Xeßaarrjvwv 
^vp(ia<i)  and  a  special  era  commencing  with  the  year  of  the 
rebuilding  of  the  city,  i.e.  according  to  the  usual  view  25  or 
perhaps  more  correctly  27  b.c.^^^  The  town  is  also  mentioned 
in  Eabbinical  literature  by  its  new  name  of  Sebaste  ("uDao).^^^ 
When  Josephus  says,  that  Herod  granted  it  "  an  excellent 
constitution,"  i^aiperov  evvojjbiav  {Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  2),  he  makes 
indeed  no  great  addition  to  our  knowledge.  It  is  however 
probable  from  other  reasons,  that  the  country  of  Samaria  was 
subordinated  to  the  town  of  Sebaste  precisely  as  Galilee  was  to 
the  capitals  Sepphoris  and  Tiberias  respectively  and  Judaea 
was  to  Jerusalem.     For  on  the  occasion  of  the  tumults  of  the 

282  Considerable  remains  of  a  large  colonnade  running  along  the  hill,  the 
Duilding  of  which  is  probably  to  be  ascribed  to  Herod,  arc  still  in  existence. 
See  the  literature  cited  in  note  2S3. 

-^^  On  the  date  of  the  rebuilding,  see  §  15.  On  the  coins  in  general, 
Noris,  V.  5  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  531-536).  Eckhel,  iii.  440.  Miounet,  v.  513-516  ; 
Suppl.  viii.  356-359.     De  Saulcy,  pp.  275-281,  pi.  xiv.  n.  4-7. 

'^^*  Mishna,  Araddn  iii.  2  (the  "  pleasure  gardens  of  Sebaste,"  niDTiQ 
■•ÜDDD,  are  here  adduced  as  an  example  of  specially  valuable  property. 
See  the  conunentary  of  Bartenora  in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  v.  198).  Neu- 
bauer, Geographie  du  Talmud,  p.  171  sq. 


126         §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Samaritans  under  Pilate  a  "  council  of  Samaritans,"  ^a/jLupicov 
rj  ßovkrj,  is  mentioned,  which  seems  to  point  to  a  united 
organization  of  the  country  {Antt.  xviii.  4.  2).^^^'*  Sebastenian 
soldiers  served  in  the  army  of  Herod  and  embraced  the 
party  of  the  Eomans  against  the  Jews  in  the  conflicts  which 
broke  out  at  Jerusalem  after  his  death  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  3.  4, 
4.  2,  3  ;  comp.  Antt.  xvii.  10.  3).  At  the  partition  of 
Palestine  after  the  decease  of  Herod,  Sebaste  with  the  rest 
of  Samaria  fell  to  Archelaus  {Antt.  xvii.  11.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  6.  3),  after  whose  banishment  it  remained  for  a  time  under 
Eoman  procurators,  was  then  temporarily  under  Agrippa,  and 
then  again  under  procurators.  During  this  last  period  Sebas- 
tenian soldiers  formed  a  main  element  in  the  Eoman  troops 
stationed  in  Judaea  (see  above,  p.  65).  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  Jewish  war  Sebaste  was  attacked  by  the  insurgent 
Jews  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1).  The  town  of  Sebaste,  with  its  chiefly 
heathen  population,  then  remained  as  during  the  disturbances 
that  followed  the  death  of  Herod  {Antt.  xvii.  10.  9  ;  Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  5.  1)  undoubtedly  on  the  side  of  the  Eomans,  while  the 
native  Samaritans  in  the  district  of  Sichem  certainly  occu- 
pied a  difficult  position  {Bell.  Jud.  iii.  7.  32).  Sebaste 
became  a  Eoman  colony  under  Septimius  Severus.^^^  But  its 
importance  henceforth  declined  before  the  prosperity  of 
Neapolis  =  Sichem.^'^'^  Eusebius  and  Stephanus  Byz.  still  call 
Sebaste  only  "  a  small  town."  ^^"^     Its  district  was  nevertheless 


294a  On  the  constitution  and  political  position  given  by  Herod  to  the  town, 
see  especially  Kuhn,  Ueher  die  Entstehung  der  Städte  der  Alten  (1878),  pp. 
422  sq.,  428  sqq. 

-3ä  Digest,  lib.  xv.  1.  7  (from  Ulpiauus)  :  Divus  quoque  Severus  in  Sebas- 
teuam  civitatem  coloniam  deduxit.  On  coins,  COL.  L.  SEP.  SEBASTE. 
Comp.  Eckhel,  iii.  441.  Zumpt,  Commentationes  epigr.  i.  432.  Kuhn,  ii.  .o6 
The  coins  in  Mionnet  and  De  Saulcy,  as  above. 

-ä6  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  xiv.  8.  11,  names  Neapolis,  but  not  Sebaste, 
among  the  most  important  towns  of  Palestine.  Comp,  above,  note 
88. 

'^'  Euseb.  Onomast.  p.  292 :  2s/3«(7T-^y,  tsj»  viv  ivo^i-^vtiv  r^?  W.a.'hoi.ia- 
il'j-fii;.       Steph.    Byz.    s.v.    "Isfiocarvi    .    .    .    isri    Is   kuI    h   t«    l.cci^oe.pihihi 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I,   THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.         127 

SO  large,  that  it  comprised  e.g.  Dothaini,  which  lay  1 2  m.  ^;. 
northward  of  the  town.^^^ 

25.  Gala,  Tcißa  or  Taßd.  The  name  corresponds  to 
the  Hebrew  J^^a  or  nyna,  a  hill,  and  is  a  frequent  local  name  in 
Palestine.  We  are  here  concerned  only  with  a  Gaba,  which 
according  to  the  decided  statements  of  Josephus  stood  on 
Carmel,  and  indeed  in  the  great  plain  near  the  district  of 
Ptolemais  and  the  borders  of  Galilee,  and  therefore  on  the 
north-eastern  declivity  of  Carmel  (see  especially,  Bdl.  Jud.  iii. 
3.  1,  and  Vita,  24).  Herod  here  settled  a  colony  of  retired 
knights,  on  which  account  the  city  was  also  called  vroXt? 
iinriccv  (Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  1  ;  Antt.  xv.  8.  5).^^^  From  the  manner 
in  which  the  town  is  mentioned  in  the  two  passages,  Bell. 
Jud.  iii.  3.  1  ;  Vita,  24,  it  is  evident  that  it  did  not  belong 
to  the  district  of  Galilee.  Its  population  being  chiefly 
heathen,  it  was  attacked  by  the  Jews  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Jewish  insurrection  (Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1),  while  on  the  other 
hand  it  took  an  active  part  in  the  struggle  against  the  Jews 
{Vita,  24).  This  town  is  probably  the  Geba  on  Carmel  men- 
tioned by  Pliny. ^''^  Whatever  other  material  has  been  adduced 
to  the  contrary  by  scholars  with  respect  to  Gaba,  has  served 
to  complicate  rather  than  throw  light  upon  the  questions 
concerning  its  situation  and  history .^''^  A  Gabe  1 6  m.  ii.  from 
Caesarea  is  mentioned  by  Eusebius,  but  the  distance  stated  is 

2**  Euseb.  Onomast.  p.  249  :  Aadxn'fi  .  .  .  hccuivu  iu  opiate  Ss/Saar^j, 
»■nrixii  8«  uvTVis  ari/neioi;  tß'  ivl  toc  ßöpnx  fiipn. 

-9^  The  latter  passage  (Anit.  xv.  8.  5)  is  according  to  the  usual  text :  IV  re 
TU  y.iyot.'hii  7:-soiu,  ruv  iTri'Kix.ruv  iTTTriuv  -Trip]  ocvrou  «roxX/isws-«?,  ;)^<i;o/oy 
avviKTioi'j  iTziTirri  Tce.y^i'hxictYccßx  Kcc'hov/nsyov  y.xi  rrj  llspxix  r'/iu  ' F.i7:ßc,):/7Tii/. 
Accordiug  to  this  it  niiglit  be  supposed  that  Herod  had  founded  three 
colonies  :  1.  an  unknown  place  in  the  great  plain  ;  2.  a  place  called  Gaba  in 
Galilee ;  and  3.  Esebonitis  iu  Peraea.  Tiie  two  first  are,  however,  certainly 
identical ;  the  re  after  e^r/  must  be  omitted,  and  the  meaning  of  ivl  rri 
Yx7^iy\xict  is,  as  the  whole  context  shows,  "for  the  controlling  of  Galilee." 
This  also  confirms  the  view,  that  Gaba  lay  on  the  eastern  declivity  of  Carmel. 
For  the  rest,  the  reading  here,  as  well  as  in  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  1,  fluctuates 
between  Vocßa.  and  TußofK»,  but  the  former  is  preferable. 

8Ö0  Plinius,  //.  N.  V.  19.  7.-). 

See  in  general,  Ileland,  p.  769.     Pauly's  Eiici/d.  iii.  ÖG3.     Kuhn,  Die 


801 


128         §  -23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.   THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

too  short  to  suit  the  situation  north-east  of  Carmel.^^  Still 
more  improbable  is  it,  that  the  coins  with  the  superscription 
KXavBi{e(ov)  ^L\nr(Treü}u)  raßrjvcov  belong  to  our  Gaba. 
These  titles  point  rather  to  a  Gaba,  which  had  belonged  to 
the  Tetrarch  Philip ;  ^^  and  the  Gabe,  mentioned  by  Pliny  as 
near  Caesarea  Panias,  may  be  identical  with  it."''*  Lastly, 
which  Gaba  the  Fäßat  in  Palaestina  secunda,  mentioned  by 
Hierocles,may  be,  must  be  left  uncertain.^^'  Guerin  thinks  he 
has  discovered  one  Gaba  in  the  village  of  Sheikh  Abreik  upon  a 
hill  near  Carmel,  with  the  situation  of  which  the  statements 
of  Josephus  certainly  agree.  ^® 

26.  IJsho7i  or  Resbon,  Hebr.  lintJ'n,  in  the  LXX.  and 
Eusebius  'Ea-eßcov,  Josephus  'Ecraeßcop,  later  'Ecrßov<i.  The 
town  lay,  according  to  Josephus,  2  0  m.  p.  east  of  the  Jordan, 

städt.  und  hürgerl.  Verf.  ii.  320,  350  sq.  The  same,  Ueber  die  Entstehung  der 
Städte  der  Alten,  p.  42-±.  Quandt,  Judäa  und  die  Nachbarschaft  im  Jahrh. 
vor  und  nach  der  Geburt  Christi  (1873),  p.  120  sq. 

302  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lagarde,  p.  246 :  xetl  iari  irdhixm  Yct.,11 
Kn'Mvi^ivr,  üi  »7^6  (j-/ifiituv  <?•'  rJö;  Kxtactpiia;  et  alia  villa  Gabatha  in  finibus 
Diocaesareae  -TrxpscmifiivYi  t«  fnyoi'ha  '!zihiv  tvi;  Atysauo;.  The  Avords  here 
interpolated  in  Latin  from  Hieronymus  have  been  omitted  from  the  text  of 
Eusebius  through  homoioteleuton.  Through  their  omission  it  came  to 
appear,  that  the  little  town  of  Gabe  was  16  m.  p.  from  Caesarea,  and  yet  at 
the  same  time  in  the  great  plain  of  Legeon  (Megiddo),  which  is  not  possible. 
The  Gabe  of  Eusebius  seems,  on  the  contrary,  to  be  identical  with  Jeba, 
which  is  marked  on  the  large  English  chart  directly  north  of  Caesarea  on 
the  western  declivity  of  Carmel.  Map  of  Western  Palestine,  sheet  viii.  to 
the  left,  above ;  also  Memoirs,  ii.  42,  where  indeed  this  Jeba  is  identified 

with   'TTOKl^   ITT'^iui/. 

3Ö3  See  on  the  coins,  Noris,  iv.  5.  6  (ed.  Lips.  pp.  458-462).  Eckhel,  iii. 
344  sqq.  Mionnet,  v.  316-318  ;  Suppl.  viii.  220-222.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  339- 
343,  pi.  xix.  n.  1-7.  The  corns  have  an  era  commencing  somewhere 
between  693  and  696  a.u.c. 

301  Plinius,  H.  N.  v.  18.  74. 

305  Hierocles,  Synecd.,  ed.  Parthey,  p.  44. 

306  Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  395-397.  Sheikh  Abreik  lies  upon  an  isolated 
eminence  close  to  Carmel,  under  the  same  degree  of  latitude  as  Nazareth. 
Compare  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and 
Kitchener,  i.  343-351,  also  the  English  map,  sheet  v.  It  is  certainly  incorrect 
to  seek  for  Gaba  in  the  situation  of  the  present  Jebata,  as  Meuke  does  in 
his  Bibel- Atlas.  The  latter  is  much  too  far  from  Carmel,  in  the  midst  of  the 
plain;  and  is,  on  the  contrary,  identical  with  the  Gabatha  of  Eusebius  (see 
note  302). 


§  -23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        129 

opposite  Jericho.^"^  With  this  agrees  exactly  the  situation  of  the 
present  Keshan,  east  of  Jordan,  under  the  same  degree  of  latitude 
as  the  northern  point  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  ruins  are  also 
found.^"'^  Hesbon  is  frequently  mentioned  as  the  capital  of 
an  Araorite  kingdom.^*'^  In  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  appears  as  a  Moabite  town.^^°  And  as  such  it 
is  also  mentioned  by  Josephus  even  in  the  time  of  Alexander 
Jannaeus,  by  whose  victories  it  was  incorporated  in  the  Jewish 
region  {Äntt.  xiii.  15.  4),  Its  further  history  cannot  be 
accurately  followed.  At  all  events  it  was  in  the  possession  of 
Herod,  when  he  refortitied  it  for  the  control  of  Peraea,  and 
placed  in  it  a  military  colony  {Antt.  xv.  8.  5).^^^  The 
district  of  Esbon  is  mentioned  as  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Peraea  by  Josephus,  hence  it  did  not  in  a  political  sense 
belong  to  Peraea.^'^    At  the  outbreak  of  the  Jewish  war,  it  was 

^"^  Euseb.  Onomast.  p.  253:  'Eaißüv  .  .  .  x.otXuTctt  Os  uvv''¥.aßüv;,  s-Trlayiino; 
^o'X/j  TV);  '  Apxßi'xi,  ii>  opsai  toI;  eiurt>c.pv  rvti  lipt)cov;  KHf^iun,  a;  octto  ainf^ituv 
K  TOt*    lophoivov. 

'■^"^  See  Seetzen,  Eeisen,  i.  497,  iv.  220  sqq.  Burckhardt,  licisen,  ii.  623 
fiq.,  1063.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xv.  2.  1176-1181.  De  Saulcy,  Voyage  en 
Terre  Sainte  (1865),  i.  279  sqq.  (with  a  plan  of  the  ruins).  Biideker-Socin, 
Palästina,  p.  318.  On  the  history,  Reland,  p.  719  sq.  Raumer,  p.  262. 
The  articles  on  "  Hesbon,"  in  Winer,  Schenkel,  Riehm,  Herzog's  Real- 
Encijcl.  1st  ed.  vi.  21  sq.  Kuhn,  Die  städt.  und  bürgerl.  Verfassung,  ii. 
337,  386  sq. 

309  Niun.  xxi.  26  sqq.  ;  Deut.  i.  4,  ii.  24  sqq.,  iü.  2  sqq.,  iv.  46  ;  Josh,  ix. 
9,  lii.  2  sqq.,  xiii.  10,  21  ;  Judg.  xi.  19  sqq.     Comp,  also  Judith  v.  15. 

310  Isa.  XV.  4,  xvi.  8,  9  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  2,  34,  35,  xlix.  3. 

3*1  Thus  certainly  must  the  passage  cited  be  understood  ;  see  on  its  tenor, 
note  299.  The  form  'F.dißuvlri;  is  the  designation  of  the  district  of  Esbon. 
The  town  itself  is  called  'T^aißüv  or  'Eaaißüu.  2s/3(uj/m?  occurs  for 
'Egißtavhig,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1,  iii.  3.  3.     See  the  following  note. 

312  '2ißanrii  is  certainly  the  reading,  as  in  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1,  instead  of 
'S.i'Kßuvt-i;.  In  Mcnke's  Bibcl-Atlas,  sheet  v.,  Essebon  is  correctly  placed 
outside  Peraea;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  incorrectly  allotted  to  the  Nabataean 
realm  instead  of  to  that  of  Herod  the  Great.  It  is  possible  that  after  the 
death  of  Herod  it  may  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Arabians,  as  e.g. 
Machaerus  also  temporarily  belonged  to  them  (Antt.  xviii.  5.  1).  The  cir- 
cumstance that  Esbon,  after  the  erection  of  Arabia  to  the  rank  of  a  pro- 
vince, belonged  thereto  favours  this  supposition.  Less  convincing  is  the 
mention  of  the  Esbonitae  Arabes  in  Pliuius,  v.  11.  65,  since  this  is  only  said 
in  an  ethnographical  sense.    In  any  case  the  lißomri;  formed  in  the  time  of 

DIV.  II.  VOL.  L  I 


130        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

attacked  by  the  insurgeut  Jews  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  18.  1).  At  the 
creation  of  the  province  of  Arabia,  A.D.  105,  Esbon,  or  as  it 
was  now  called  Esbiis,  was  probably  forthwith  awarded  to  it, 
for  Ptolemy  already  speaks  of  it  as  belonging  to  Arabia.^'* 
The  few  coins  as  yet  known  are  those  of  either  Caracalla  or 
Elagabalus.^^^  It  was  an  important  town  in  the  time  of  Euse- 
bius,^'^  and  Christian  bishops  of  Esbus  (Esbundorum,  ^Eaßovv- 
Ticov)  are  mentioned  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.^^** 

27.  Antipatris,  ^AvTtirarpi'if'^^  The  original  name  of  this 
town  was  Ka(f)apaaßd,"'^^  or  Kaßapaaßä^^^  sometimes  Kairep- 
aaßlvqf^  Hebrew  xao  "isa,  under  which  name  it  also  occurs  in 
Eabbinical  literature.^"^  Its  situation  is  evidenced  by  the 
present  Kefr-Sciba,  north-eastward  of  Joppa,  the  position  of 

Joseplius  a  town  district  proper,  -which  though  perhaps  subject  to  the 
Arabians,  was  still  distinct  from  the  other  Arabias,  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  3. 

^^3  Ptolem.  V.  17.  6.  The  town  is  here  called  "Eaß'jfr«  (so  also  the  Codex 
of  Vatopedi,  see  Geographie  de  Ptolemee,  reproduction  pliotollthograpMqve, 
etc.,  Paris  1867,  p.  Ivii.  below),  which  however  is  properly  the  accusative 
form  of  'Eaßov:. 

^^*  Eckhel,  iii.  503.  Miounet,  v.  585  sq.  ;  Sitppl.  viii.  387.  De  Saulcy, 
p.  393,  pi.  xxiii.  n.  5-7. 

^^^  See  above,  note  307.  Eusebius  also  frequently  mentions  the  town  else- 
where in  the  Onomasticon.  See  Lagarde's  Index,  .v.r.  iaßow,  saißow  and  saißov;. 

^^^  Le  Quien,  Oriens  chrhtlanus,  ii.  863. 

'^^  See  on  the  subject  generally,  Reland.  p.  569  sq.,  690.  Pauly's  Enc. 
i.  1. 1150.  Kuhn,  ii.  351.  Winer,  a.v.  "Antipatris."  Raumer,  p.  147.  Robin- 
son's Palestine,  ii.  p.  242,  iii.  pp.  138,  139.  Ritter,  xvi.  569-572.  Gueriu, 
Samarie,  ii.  357-367 ;  comp.  ii.  132  sq.  Wilson,  Quarterly  Statement, 
1874,  pp.  192-196.  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Oonder 
and  Kitchener,  ii.  134,  258-262  ;  the  English  map,  sheets  x.  and  xiii. 
Ebers  and  Guthe,  Palästina,  vol.  ii.  p.  452. 

^^8  Joseph.  Antt.  xvi.  5.  2. 

3^^  Joseph.  Antt.  xiii.  15.  1.  The  reading  here  fluctuates  between  Kußxp- 
(706/3«,  Xccßxpaxßx  and  Xeeßxp^ix.ßK. 

32"  Such  is  undoubtedly  the  reading  instead  of  koci  ■zspaxßivyi  in  the 
passage  of  the  Chronicon  Paschale,  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  867  :  o  uvr6$  Is  x,»l 
' Audriooi/ec  iT^iKTia»;  ' hypiTr-Tretuv  ln'i.'KiGi'j,  srt  3s  kxI  TrspaxßiuYjv  it;  ovopcsc 
'  Ai/TivKTpov  IM)  ili'ov  TTxrpög.  Comp.  Reland,  pp.  690,  925.  In  the  parallel 
passage  in  Syncellus,  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  595,  it  is  said :  hi  ri  Tlccpixyxßxv  ih 
TifiViU    AuriTxrpou  rov  -Trxrpo;  xi/Tov  ' Avri'Trxrpi'hx  uv6u.xai. 

3-'i  Tosefta,  Nidda  649.  35  (ed.  Zuckermandcl) ;  Bab.  Nidda  61»  ;  Jcr. 
Demai  ii.  1,  fol.  22«.  Hamburger,  Eeal-Encycl.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud, 
ii.  637,  art.  "  Kephar  Saba." 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       131 

which  aOTees  with  the  statements  of  ancient  writers  concernintr 
Antipatris,  that  it  was  150  stadia  from  Joppa,"^"^  at  the  entrance 
of  the  mountainous  district,*^^  and  2  6  w.  'p.  south  of  Caesarea, 
on  the  road  thence  to  Lydia.^^"*  Herod  here  founded  in  a 
well-watered  and  well-wooded  plain  a  new  city,  which  he 
called  Antipatris  in  honour  of  his  father  Antipater  (Antt.  xvi. 
5.  2 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  9).  The  town  is  also  mentioned  in  Rabbini- 
cal literature  under  this  name,  D"it2D"'D3N* ;  ^^  also  by  Ptolemy, 
Eusebius,  and  Stephanus  Byzantinus.^^  It  was  much  reduced 
in  the  fourth  century  after  Christ,  being  spoken  of  in  the 
Itinerar.  Burdig.,  not  as  a  civitas,  but  only  as  a  mv.tatio 
(stopping  place),  and  designated  by  Jerome  as  a  semirutum 
opidulnm.^^  Yet  a  Bishop  of  Antipatris  still  occurs  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  A.D.  451.^'*  Its  existence  in 
these  later  times  is  also  elsewhere  evidenced.^^^  Nay,  so  late 
as  the  eighth  century  after  Christ  it  is  still  spoken  of  as  a 
town  inhabited  by  Christians.'^ 

28.    Phasaelis,    ^aaarjXi'i.^^^       It    was    in   honour    of   his 
brother  Phasael  that  Herod  founded  in  the  Jordan  valley,  in  a 

«22  Antt.  xüi.  15.  1.  323  ßgii  /„(/.  i.  4.  7. 

^2<  The  Itinerarium  Burdigahufse  (in  Tobler  and  Molinier,  Itinera,  etc., 
p.  20)  gives  the  distance  from  Caesarea  to  Antipatris  at  26  vi.  p.,  that 
from  Antipatris  to  Lydda  at  10  m.  p.  The  former  number  agrees  almost 
exactly  with  the  situation  of  Kef r- Saba,  the  latter  is  in  consequence  of  a 
clerical  error  too  little.  The  general  situation  of  Antipatris,  as  on  the  road 
from  Caesarea  to  Lydda,  is  also  elsewhere  testified ;  seeAritt.  xxiii.ol ;  Joseph. 
Bell.  Jud.  ii.  19.  1,  9,  iv.  8.  1.  Hieronym.  l\re(jrinatio  Paidae  (in  Tobler, 
Palaestinae  desn:  p.  LS).  The  reasons  brought  forward  by  Guerin,  Wilson, 
Conder,  and  Mühlau  (Kiehm's  Wörterh.)  against  the  identity  of  Kefr-Saba 
and  Antipatris  do  not  seem  to  me  decisive. 

325  Mishna,  O'iltin  viL  7  ;  ßab.  G'dtbi  70''.  Lightfoot.  Centuria  ^Jatth(^fo 
praemissa,  c.  .58  (0pp.  ii.  214).  Neubauer,  O'^graphie  da  Talmud,  pp. 
86-90.     Hamburger,  Real-Encycl.  ii.  63,  art.  "  Antipatris." 

326  Ptolcmaeus,  v.  16.  6.  Eusebius,  Onomast.  pp.  24.5,  246.    Steph.  Byz..«.«. 
32''  See  the  passages  cited,  note  324. 

328  Le  Quien,  Oriens  chri.stianu.'!,  iii.  .579  sq. 

329  Hierocles,  Synced,  (ed.  Tarthey)  p.  43.  The  Notlfia  episcopat.  (the 
same),  p.  143. 

330  Theophanis,  Chronographia,  ad  ann.  Dom.  743  (ed.  Bonnens.  i.  6.58). 

331  See  in  general,  Roland,  p.  953  sq.  Pauly's  Enc.  v.  1439.  Kaumer, 
p.  216.     Robinson's  Palestine,  i.  p.  569,  iii.  p.  293.     Ritter,  xv.  1.  458  aq. 


132         §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

hitherto  untilled  but  fertile  region,  which  was  thus  gained  foi 
cultivation,  the  city  of  Phasaelis  {Antt.  xvi.  5.  2  ;  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  21.  9).  After  his  death  the  town,  with  its  valuable  palm 
plantations,  came  into  the  possession  of  his  sister  Salome 
{Antt.  xviii.  8.  1,  11.  5;  Bdl.  Jud.  ii.  6.  3);  and  after  her 
death  into  that  of  the  Empress  Livia  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  2  ;  Bell. 
Jud.  ii.  9.  1).  Pliny  speaks  of  the  excellent  dates  obtained 
from  the  palm  trees  growing  there.^^^  The  town  is  also 
mentioned  by  Ptolemy,  Stephanus  Byz.,  and  the  geographers 
of  Eavenna.^^^  Its  name  has  been  preserved  in  the  present 
Karbet  Fasail  on  the  edge  of  the  plain  of  the  Jordan,  in  a 
fertile  district.  The  stream  flowing  thence  to  the  Jordan  is 
called  Wadi  Fasail.^^^* 

29.  Caesarea  PaniasF"^  To  Uaveiov  properly  means  the 
grotto  dedicated  to  Pan  at  the  source  of  the  Jordan.^^^  It  is 
first  mentioned  under  this  name  by  Polybius  in  the  time  of 
Antiochus  the   Great,  who  there  gained  (198   B.c.)  over  the 

Guerin,  Samarie,  i.  228-232.  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs 
by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii.  388,  392 ;  and  the  large  Enghsh  map, 
sheet  XV. 

.332  piinius^  //;  ^,  xiii.  4.  44 :  Sed  ut  copia  ibi  atque  fertilitas,  ita  nobiU- 
tas  in  Judaea,  nee  in  tota,  sed  Hiericunte  maxume,  quamquam  laudatae  et 
Archelaide  et  Phaselide  atque  Liviade,  gentis  ejusdem  convaUibus. 

^^^  Ptolem.  V.  16.  7.  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  Geographns  Ravennas,  edd.  Finder 
et  Parthey  (1860),  p.  84.  The  town  is  also  mentioned  in  the  Middle  Ages 
(in  Burchardus  and  Marinus  Sanutus),  see  the  passages  in  Guerin,  Samarie, 
i.  231  sq. 

^^*  See  especially  the  large  English  map,  sheet  xv.,  and  the  description 
in  Guerin  and  Conder,  as  above. 

32^  See  on  the  general  subject,  Keland,  pp.  918-922.  Winer's  RWB. 
and  Schenkel's  Bihellex.  s.v.  "Caesarea."  Kuhn,  ii.  334.  Robinson's 
Palestine,  iii.  397-413.  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xv.  1.  195-207.  Guerin, 
Galilee,  ii.  308-323.  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder 
and  Kitchener,  i.  95,  109-113,  125-128;  the  large  English  map,  sheet  ii. 
Ebers  and  Guthe,  Pcdästina  in  Bild  und  Wort,  i.  356-366.  Views  of  the 
Pan-Grotto  in  the  Due  de  Luynes  Voyage  d'  Exploration,  etc.,  Atlas, 
plates  62,  63.  Inscriptions,  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec.  n.  4537-4539.  Le  Bas 
et  Waddington,  Inscriptions,  vol.  iii.  n.  1891-1894. 

33^  The  Paneion  is  described  as  a  grotto  {air'/i'ha.inv,  öivrpov)  in  Joseph. 
Antt.  XV.  10.  3.  Bell.  Jud.  i.  21.  3,  iii.  10.  7:  IoksI  /aiv  '  loplotvov  xjjy^ 
TO  Uuviov.  Steph.  Byz.  s.v.  lictvi».  The  mountain  was  called  by  the  same 
name  as  the  grottq.  Euseb.  Hist.  eccl.  vii.  17 :  sv  7ul;  vTrupiixi:  tov  kx?.ov- 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       133 

Egyptian  general  Scopas  the  decisive  victory,  in  consequence 
of  wliich  all  Palestine  fell  into  his  hands.'^^^  Even  this  early 
mention  would  lead  us  to  infer  a  Hellenization  of  the  place 
in  the  third  century  before  Christ.  In  any  case  the  popula- 
tion of  the  surrounding  district,  as  its  farther  history  also 
shows,  was  chiefly  non-Jewish.  In  the  early  times  of  Herod 
the  country  of  üaviä'i  (as  it  was  called  from  the  Pan-Grotto 
there)  belonged  to  a  certain  Zenodorus,  after  whose  death,  in 
the  year  20  b.c.,  it  was  given  by  Augustus  to  Herod  (see 
above,  §  15),  who  built  a  splendid  temple  to  Augustus  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Pan-Grotto  {Antt.  xv.  10.3;  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  21.  3).  The  place,  which  lay  there,  was  originally  called 
like  the  country,  Havid'i  or  Tlavedf.^^^  It  was  first,  however, 
transformed  into  a  considerable  town  by  Philip  the  Tetrarch, 
the  son  of  Herod,  who  rebuilt  it  and  called  it  Kaiaapeia,  in 
honour  of  Augustus  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  1  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  9.  1). 
This  refoundation  belongs  to  the  early  times  of  Philip ;  for 
the  coins  of  the  town  have  an  era,  the  commencement  of 
which  probably  dates  from  the  year  3  b.c.  (751  a.u.c),  or  at 
latest  2  B.C.  (752  a.u.c.).^^^  After  the  death  of  Philip,  liis 
realm  was  for  a  few  years  under  Eoman  administration,  then 
under  Agrippa  I.,  then  again  under  Eoman  procurators,  and 
at  last,  in  A.D.  53,  under  Agrippa  II.,  who  enlarged  Caesarea 
and  called  it  N€po}viä<;  in  honour  of  Nero  (Antt.  xv.  9.  4), 

fiivou  Uxviov  opov;  (To  Hocvuov  is  properly  an  adjective  requiring  as  ft 
complement  either  öii/rpov  or  6po;. 

*^^  Poly  bins,  xvi.  18,  xxviii.  1. 

838  Ylxutöti  or  TLetvid;  is  properly  an  adjective  and  indeed  the  fern,  of 
ndviio;  (as  eiypici;,  hiVKu;,  öpaä;  are  the  poetic  feminines  of  aypio;,  >.(vk6:, 
Spuoi).  Hence  tlie  same  word  serves  to  designate  both  the  country  (wliere 
X^P»  is  the  complement,  Aiitt.  xv.  10.  3,  xvii.  8.  1.  Bill  Jud.  ii.  9.  1. 
Plinius,  V.  18.  74  :  Panias  in  qua  Caesarea)  and  the  town  or  village  (where 
TTÖy^i;  or  KUfiYi  is  the  complement,  Anil,  xviii.  2.  1). 

338  See  Noris,  iv.  5.  4  (cd.  Lips.  pp.  442-453).  Eckhel,  iii.  339-344. 
Sanclemente,  De  vulgaris  aerae  emendadonc  (Rome  1793),  iii.  2,  p.  322  sqq. 
The  coins  in  Mionnet,  v.  311-315 ;  Suppl.  viii.  217-220.  De  Saulcy,  pp.  313- 
324,  pi.  xviii.  The  addition  to  the  Chronicle  of  Eusebius,  which  transposes 
the  foundation  to  the  time  of  Tiberius,  is  of  no  value.  See  below,  note  390. 
Also  Jerome  in  the  Chronicle  and  Comment,  on  Matth.  xvi.  13  (see  note  345). 


134        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIG  TOWNS. 

which  name  is  occasionally  found  on  coins.^*°  That  the  town 
was  then  also  chiefly  a  heathen  one  appears  from  Joseph,  Vita, 
13.  Hence  both  Titus  and  Vespasian  passed  their  times  of 
repose  during  the  Jewish  war  amidst  games  and  other 
festivities  at  this  place.^*^  The  name  Neronias  seems  never 
to  have  been  naturalized.  In  the  first  century  after  Christ 
this  Caesarea  was,  to  distinguish  it  from  others,  usually  called 
Kaia-äpeia  rj  ^Ckiir'Trov ;  ^^^  its  official  designation  upon  coins, 
especially  of  the  second  century,  is  Kaca(dp€ia)  ^eß(a(rT7]) 
i€p(a)  Kol  äav(Xo<;)  vtto  UaveccD.^*^  Elsewhere  it  has  generally 
been  called  since  the  second  century  Kata-apeia  Ilavia^, 
which  name  also  predominates  on  coins  of  the  third."^^  Since 
the  fourth  the  name  of  Caesarea  has  been  wholly  lost,  and  the 
town  called  only  Panias.^^^  This  seems  besides  to  have 
always  remained  its  prevailing  name  among  the  native  popu- 

3*0  Mionnet,  v.  815.  De  Saiücy,  pp.  316,  318.  Madden,  History  of 
Jewish  Coinage,  pp.  116,  117.     The  same,  Coins  of  the  Jews,  pp.  145,  146. 

311  Joseph,  Bell.  JiuL  iii.  9.  7,  vii.  2.  1. 

3*2  Matt.  xvi.  13  ;  Mark  via.  27.  Joseph.  Antt.  xx.  9.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud 
iii.  9.  7,  vii.  2.  1  ;   Vita,  13. 

3*3  See  the  literature  cited  in  note  339,  especially  Mionnet  and  De  Saulcy. 

3**  Ptolem.  V.  15.  21,  viii.  20.  12  (Kxiaxpeicn  YLocvixc).  Corp.  Inscr. 
Grace,  n.  4750  (upon  the  statue  of  Memnon  at  Thebes),  and  n.  4921  (at 
Philoe),  both  times  KonGot-piix;  Uuviülo;.  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  Inscrip- 
tions, vol.  iii.  n.  1620^'  (at  Aphrodisias  in  Caria  in  the  second  century  after 
Christ)  •  Kxiaocpuxv  Ylaeyiacdx.  Tabula  Peuting.  (Caesareapaneas).  Geo- 
graphus  Ravennas,  edd.  Finder  et  Parthey,  p.  85.  The  coins  in  De  Saulcy, 
pp,  317,  322  sq, 

3*5  Eusebius,  who  frequently  mentions  the  town  in  the  Onomasticon , 
always  calls  it  TluvsUi  only  (see  the  Index  in  Lagarde's  edition).  And  this 
is  generally  its  name  in  ecclesiastical  literature  ;  see  Eusebius,  Hist.  eccl.  vii. 
17,  18.  Hieron.  in  Jeseij.  xUi.  1  sqq.,  ed.  Yallarsi,  iv.  507  (in  confinio 
Caesareae  Philippi,  quae  nunc  vocatur  Paneas).  Idem  in  Ezek.  xxvii.  19, 
ed.  Yall.  v.  317  (ubi  hodie  Paneas,  quae  quondam  Caesarea  Philippi  voca- 
batur)  ;  Idem  in  Matt.  xvi.  13,  ed.  Vail.  vii.  121  (in  honorem  Tiberii  (sic !) 
Caesaris  Caesaream,  quae  nunc  Paneas  dicitur,  construxit).  Sozom.  v.  21. 
Philostorg.  vii,  3  (comj).  also  Müller,  Fragm.  hist,  graec.  iv.  546).  Theo- 
dorct.  Quaest.  (see  the  passages  in  Reland,  p.  919).  Malalas,  ed.  Diudorf, 
p.  237.  Glycas  Theophanes  (see  the  passages  in  Keland,  p.  922).  Photius, 
Cod.  271,  sub  fin.  The  Acts  of  the  Councils  (in  Le  Quieu,  Oriens  chris- 
tianus,  ii.  831).  Hierocles,  Synecd.,  ed.  Parthey,  p.  43.  Theodosius,  TJe 
situ  terrae  sanctae,  §  13  (ed.  Gildemeister  1882).  On  the  supposed  statue 
of  Christ  at  Paneas,  see  also  Gieseler,  Kirchcngisch.  i.  1.  85  sq. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       135 

latiou/*°  as  it  is  also  that  chiefly  used  (in  the  form  D"'^:q)  in 
liabbinic  literature.^^^  When  the  "  \illages  of  Caesarea 
lliilippi "  {al  Kwfiat  KaLaapeia<i  t?}?  ^lKittttou)  are  mentioned 
in  the  New  Testament,  Mark  viii.  27,  of  course  the  genitive 
here  expresses  not  a  merely  "  local  reference  "  of  the  villages 
to  the  town,^^^  but  shows  that  they  belong  and  are  subject  to 
it, — in  other  words,  that  Caesarea  had,  like  each  of  these  towns, 
a  district  of  its  own  which  it  governed. 

30.  Julias,  formerly  Bcthsaida^^  In  the  place  of  a  village 
called  Bethsaida,  lying  to  the  north  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth, 
a  new  town  was  built  by  Philip,  who  called  it  'Iov\td<;,  in 
honour  of  Julia  the  daughter  of  Augustus  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  1  ; 
Bell.  Jucl.  ii.  9.  1).  Its  situation  eastward  of  the  Jordan,  just 
before  the  latter  flows  into  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth,  is  placed 
beyond  doubt  by  the  repeated  and  concurrent  statements  of 
Josephus.^^*^  The  foundation  of  this  city  also  must  have 
taken  place  in  the  earlier  times  of  Philip.  For  in  the  year 
2  B.c.  (752  A.u.c.)  Julia  had  already  been  banished  by 
Augustus  to  the  island  of  Pandateria,^"^  and  it  is  not  conceiv- 

^^^  Comp.  Euseb.  //.  E.  vii.  17  :  £-<  rit;  (i?i7j-77oii  Kuirjotpsiu;,  t^j 
Tlxysxooi.  <^oiviKii  ■zpoaoe.'/üpivovat. 

3*"  Mishna,  Para  viii.  11  ;  Tosefta,  Bechoroth  p.  542, 1,  ed.  Zuckermandel 
(in  both  passages  the  "  Grotto  of  Paulas,"  D''''j2  mVD,  is  mentioned). 
Buxtorf,  Lex.  Chald.  col.  1752.  Levy,  Chahl.  Würierluch,  ii.  273  sq. 
Lightfoot,  Centuria  Matthaeo  praemissa,  c.  67  {0pp.  ii.  220).  Neubauer, 
Geographie  che  Talmud,  pp.  23G-238.  The  corrupted  form  D^^CD  does  not 
belong  to  the  usage  of  the  living  language,  but  in  the  first  instance  to  a 
later  text.  In  the  passages  cited  from  the  Mishna  the  best  authorities  still 
have  D''''3D  (so  Aruch,  Cod.  de  Rossi  138,  Cambridge  University  Additional, 
470. 1).     In  Aruch  this  form  only  is  everywhere  quoted. 

3*8  So  Winer,  Grammatik,  §  30.  2. 

3*8  See  in  general,  Relaud,  pp.  653  sqq.,  869.  Raumer,  p.  122.  Winer, 
s.v.  "Bethsaida."  Kuhn,  ii.  352.  Robinson,  ii.  pp.  405,  406,  iii.  pp.  358, 
359.  Ritter,  xv.  1.  278  sqq.  Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  329-338.  Furrer  in  the 
Zeitsch.  of  the  German  PaL- Vereins,  ii.  66-70. 

350  See  especially.  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  10.  7  ;  also  Antt.  xviü.  2.  1  (on  the  Lake 
of  Gennesareth)  ;  Vita,  72  (near  the  Jordan)  ;  Antt.  xx.  8.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  13.  2  (in  Feraea).  Also  Plinius,  II.  N.  v.  15.  71,  mentions  Julias  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth. 

351  Velleius,  ii.  100.  Dio  Ca.-sius,  Iv.  10.  Comp.  Sueton.  Aug.  65.  Tac. 
Annal.  i.  53.     Pauly's  Enc.  v.  844  sq.     Lewin,  Fasti  sacri  (1805),  u.  961. 


136      §  23.  co^'ST^■UTION.     i.  the  Hellenistic  towns. 

able,  that  Philip  should,  after  that  date,  have  named  a  town 
after  her.^^^  Of  its  subsequent  history,  nothing  is  known  but 
that  it  was  given  by  Nero  to  Agrippa  II.  {Antt.  xx.  8.  4;  Bell. 
Jucl.  ii,  13.  2).  It  is  mentioned  in  Pliny,  Ptolemy  and  the 
geographers  of  Eavenna.^^^  From  the  manner  iu  which 
Josephus  speaks  of  it  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  1),  it  might  appear  as 
thoiigh  Philip  had  only  altered  the  name  of  the  village  of 
Bethsaida  into  Julias,  and  thus,  that  the  new  place  too  was 
only  a  KcofjLT].^'^*  In  another  passage  however  he  explicitly 
distinguishes  Julias  from  the  surrounding  villages  as  a  ttoXi?, 
hence  the  former  was  properly  speaking  a  TroXi?  from  the 
time  of  its  rebuilding.  The  question  as  to  whether  the 
Bethsaida  of  the  New  Testament  was  identical  with  this — a 
question  recently  again  decided  in  the  affirmative  ^^^ — must 
here  be  left  undiscussed. 

31.  Sepphoi'is,  ^e7r(f)(öpi<;.^^^  The  Semitic  form  of  this 
name  fluctuates  between  Pl^^iy  and  "'lioy.  Perhaps  the  former 
is  the  older,  the  latter  the  abbreviated  form.^'^'^     With  the 

3^2  So  also  Sanclemente,  De  vulgaris  aerae  emendaiione,  p.  327  sqq. 
Lewin,  Fasti  sacri,  n.  953.  The  Chronicle  of  Eusebius  erroueoiisly  places 
the  foundation  of  Julias  in  the  time  of  Tiberius ;  see  below,  note  390. 

353  Plinius,  V.  15.  71.  Ptoleni.  v.  16.  4.  Geogr.  Ravennas,  edd.  Pinder 
et  Partbey,  p.  85. 

35*  Anit.  xviii,  2.  1 :  KUftYi»  Se  Byiöaeiiociv,  -Trpoi  "Kifivy)  §£  tÄ  TswriaapiTiut, 
-TröT^iu;  'nat.pot.'J-^uv  oi^lu[/,ot,  v'K'/iöii  ts  otKYjTopui/  x,tc\  I'fi  «AAjj  ^uvxi^ii,  lov'At'ot 
öv/ccrpt  TYi  Ketiaapos  öfiui/vfiov  iKxKiatv. 

355  Holtzmann,  Jahrb.  f.  prot.  Theol.  1878,  p.  383  sq.  Furrer  in  the 
Zeitsch.  of  the  German  Päl.-Ver.  ii.  66-70.  Against  this  identity,  see 
especially  Relaud,  Raumer  and  Winer,  as  above. 

356  See  in  general,  Reland,  pp.  999-1003.  Pauly's  Enc.  vi.  1.  1050. 
Raumer,  p.  189.  Kuhn,  ii.  372.  Robinson's  Palestine,  iii.  Ill,  112. 
Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xvi.  748  sq.  Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  369-376.  The  Survey  of 
Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  i.  279  sq.,  330-338  ; 
also  sheet  v.  of  the  English  map. 

35'^  The  place  does  not  occur  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  very  frequently, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  Rabbinical  literature.  In  the  Mishna  it  is  found  in 
the  four  following  places :  Kiddushin  iv.  5  ;  Baba  mezia  viii.  8  ;  Baba 
bathra  vi.  7 ;  Arachin  ix.  6  ;  very  often  in  the  Tosefta  (see  the  Index  in 
Zuckermandel's  edition).  Comp,  also  Lightfoot,  Centuria  Matthaeo  prae- 
missa,  c.  82,  83  (0pp.  ii.  229  sqq.).  Neubauer,  Geographie  du  Talmud,  ii. 
1115.  The  orthography  fluctuates  between  |mDV  (or,  which  is  the  same, 
I^I^B'V,  D^IIDV)  and  ^niQ^  (""IID"'^).     The  Cod.  de  Rossi  138  has  in  all  the 


§  23.    CONSriTUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWXS.        137 

former  correspond  the  Greek  and  Latin  Xeir^ovpiv,  Saphorim, 
Safforine  ;  ^^^  with  the  latter  Xair^ovpei,  Sapori.^^^  Josephus 
constantly  nses  the  Graecized  form  Se7r(f)cöpt<;.  On  coins 
the  inhabitants  are  called  HeTrcpojprjvot.^^'^  The  earliest 
mention  is  found  in  Josephus  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  Alexander  Jannaeus,  when  Ptolemy  Lathurus  made  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  take  Sepphoris  by  force  (Antt.  xiii. 
12.  5).  AVhen  Gabinius,  about  57-55  b.c.,  divided  the 
Jewish  region  into  five  "  Synedria/'  he  transferred  the 
Synedrium  for  Galilee  to  Sepphoris  (Aiitt.  xiv.  5.  4 ;  Bell. 
Jud.  i.  8.  5)  ;  which  shows  that  this  town  must  then  have 
been  the  most  important  town  of  Galilee.  It  is  also  mentioned 
as  a  place  of  arms  at  the  conquest  of  Palestine  by  Herod  the 
Great,  who  was  only  able  to  take  it  without  difficulty,  because 
the  garrison  of  Antigonus  had  evacuated  the  place  (Antt.  xiv. 
15.  4;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  16.  2).  At  the  insurrection,  after  the 
death  of  Herod,  Sepphoris  seems  to  have  been  a  main  seat  of 
the  rebellion.  Varus  despatched  thither  a  division  of  his 
army,  burnt  the  town  and  sold  its  inhabitants  as  slaves  (Antt. 
xvii.  10.  9  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  5.  1).  This  makes  a  turning-point 
in  its  history  ;  from  a  Jewish  town  adhering  to  the  national 
party  it  now  became  a  town  friendly  to  the  Eomans,  with 
probably  a  mixed  population.  For  Herod  Antipas,  to  whose 
possession   it   was   transferred,  rebuilt  it   and   made   it   "  the 

four  places  in  the  Mishna  p"ilB''V  ;  the  Cambridge  manuscript  too  (  University 
Additional,  470.  1)  has  throughout  the  phiral  form.  This  also  appears  to 
be  the  prevailing  form  in  the  Jerusalcinite  Talmud  (see  the  quotations  in 
Lightfoot,  as  above).  Elsewhere,  on  the  contrary,  msv  predominates, 
especially  in  the  Tosefta  (according  to  Zuckermandel's  edition). 

^'^^  Sexipoi'/!/»,  Epiphan.  Uaer.  30.  11  (ed.  Diiulorf).  Saphorim,  lliennii/- 
rmis  praef.  in  Jonam  (V^allaK^i,  vi.  390).  Safforine,  Ilitron.  Onomast.,  ed. 
Lagarde,  p.  88.  In  John  xi.  54  the  Greek  and  Latin  text  of  the  Cod. 
Cantabr.  has  the  addition  1x7r(p6vpiiv,  Sapfurim,  after  x"9<*-^- 

359  1ot.TrJ:(tvpii,  Ptolem.  v.  IG.  4  (the  Codex  of  Vatopedi  has  '^etT^ovptl 
without  the  addition  ij  lotTr^ovpis  ;  see  Geor/raphic  de  Ptolcmc'e  rcprndurtion 
jihotolithofirajihlquc,  etc..  p.  Ivii.).  Sajiori,  Gcoi/rnjihuts  lidfoina.i,  edd.  I'inder 
et  Parthey,  p.  85. 

3^"  See  Eckhel,  iii.  425.  Miounet,  482.  De  Saulcy,  p.  325  sq.,  pi.  xvii. 
u.  1-4. 


138        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

ornament  of  all  Galilee "  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  1) :  Trpocr^Tjfia  rov 
TaXCkalov  iravTo^.  But  its  population  was — as  was  shown 
by  its  attitude  during  the  great  war,  A.D.  66-VO — no  longer 
anti-Eoman  and  hence  no  longer  purely  Jewish.^*'°^  It  is 
perhaps  this  change,  which  is  referred  to  in  a  passage  of  the 
Mishna,  in  which  the  "  ancient  government  of  Sepphoris  "  is 
assumed  to  have  been  a  purely  Jewish  one.^'^^  At  its  rebuild- 
ing by  Herod  Antipas,  Sepphoris  seems  to  have  been  also 
raised  to  the  rank  of  capital  of  Galilee.^^^ 

3«0a  That  it  was  however  still  clih'ßy  Jewish  is  evident  especially  from 
Bell.  Jud.  iii.  2.  4  :    'jrpoövfAov;  a(f»;  xvTai>;  v7riox,'^:nQ  kxt»  tuv  öy-o'^v'Kuv 

s^^  KiddasJiin  iv.  5.  It  is  here  said,  that  every  one  is  to  be  esteemed  an 
Israelite  of  pure  blood,  who  can  prove  his  descent  from  a  priest  or  Levite, 
who  has  actually  ministered  as  such,  or  from  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim ; 
nay  every  one  whose  ancestors  were  known  to  have  been  public  oflBcials  or 
almoners,  in  particular,  according  to  Rabbi  Jose,  every  ^3"iX3  DIDH  TV'TV^  ''D 
}'''nD''V  bl^'  njCTl.  In  explanation  of  this  difficult  passage  we  remark 
that  a^inn,  properly  "sealed,"  is  here  equivalent  to  "confirmed,  acknow- 
ledged, accredited  by  documents  "  (compare  the  use  of  a^ppctyl^a,  John  iii. 
33,  vi.  27).  The  word  iy,  which  the  common  text  has  after  Dinn,  must 
according  to  the  best  MSS.  be  expunged.  '•D"1X  =  äjo;(;sj.  njCi'''  is  certainly 
not  the  local  name  Jeshana  (for  which  older  commentators  have  taken  it), 
but  the  adjective  "old."  Hence  two  explanations  are  possible.  Either — 
1.  "  Every  one,  who  (with  respect  to  his  ancestors)  was  recognised  in  the 
old  government  of  Sepphoris  as  a  member  thereof."  It  would  then  be 
assumed  that  all  the  members  of  the  old  goverimient  were  Israelites  of 
pure  blood.  Or  2.  "  Every  one,  who  was  acknowledged  hj  the  old  govern- 
ment of  Sepphoris,"  viz.  as  an  Israelite  of  pure  blood.  In  this  case  also  the 
old  government  of  Sepphoris  woidd  he  assumed  to  consist  of  purely  Israelitish 
officials.  The  first  explanation  seems  to  me  to  be  preferable  according 
to  the  context.  It  may  certainly  be  questionable,  when  the  ancient 
purely  Jewish  government  of  Sepphoris  was  replaced  by  another  of  mixed 
or  heathen  composition.  This  might  have  taken  place  in  the  time  of 
Hadrian,  when  much  may  have  been  changed  in  consequence  of  the 
Jewish  insurrection,  at  about  which  period  also,  it  should  be  observed, 
SeiDphoris  received  the  new  name  of  Diocaesarea  (see  below).  According 
to  all  indications  however,  it  seems  to  me  probable,  that  Sepphoris  so  early 
as  its  rebuilding  by  Herod  Antipas  was  no  longer  a  purely  Jewish  town. 
Consider  also  the  coins  with  the  image  of  Trajan ! 

^^^  Josephus  says,  Antt.  xviii.  2.  1  :  viysv  ctin'hv  tuvroapot-opiücc.  This  alone 
tells  us  nothing  more  than  that  he  granted  it  its  autonomy  {ui>rox.pxTapidct 
=  xvrövoy.ov).  But  subsequent  history  makes  it  probable,  that  the  rest  of 
Galilee  was  then  already  subordinated  to  it.     The  explanation  of  uUTox-pct- 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        139 

This  raiik  was  however  after \\'ai(ls  bestowed  b}'  the  same 
prince  upon  the  newly  built  city  of  Tiberias,  to  M'hich 
Sepphoris  was  subordinate."*^  It  so  continued  until  Tiberias 
was,  in  the  reign  of  j^ero,  separated  from  Galilee  and  bestowed 
upon  Agi'ippa  IL,  when  Sepphoris  consequently  again  occupied 
the  position  of  capital  of  Galilee.**^  Thus  these  two  towns 
alternately  assumed  the  same  position  with  respect  to  Galilee, 
that  Jerusalem  did  with  respect  to  Judaea  (see  below,  §  2). 
Sepphoris  was  at  that  time  the  most  important  fortress  in 
Galilee,^^'  and,  after  Tiberias,  the  largest  town  in  the  pro- 
vince.^^  Hence,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Jewish  war,  it  w^as  of 
the  greatest  consequence,  that  just  this  town  did  not  participate 
in  the  insurrection,  but  remained  from  the  beginning  on  the 
side  of  the  Eomans.  So  early  as  the  time  when  Cestius 
Gallus  marched  against  insurgent  Jerusalem,  Sepphoris  took 
up  a  friendly  position  towards  him.®^'  It  remained  also  faith- 
ful to  its  Eomish  tendencies  during  the  winter  of  A.D.  66/67, 
when  Josephus  was  organizing  the  insurrection  in  Galilee.'^^ 

Toiii;  as  capital  can  hardly  be  conceded.  Some  MSS.  have  ce,vTOKpxTooi, 
whence  Dindorf  conjectures :  ixv^x,s!/  »vTr,v  avroy-pxTopi,  "he  dedicated  it 
to  the  emperor." 

363  Vita,  9,  Justus  said  of  Tiberias  :  ii;  vi  "T^öya;  IotIu  dii  ry;;  YxKi'Kxioc,;, 
Ap%iiiv  "hi  ivi  yi  Tuu  'Hpiioov  Y.piiiw  rov  rirpa,px.^v  kccI  x-riarov  '/ivoyAvov, 

ßOVAYlSivTOi    etilTOV  TilU    "^iV^UptTUV    IVOKIV  TV]    'H  ißifliCilV   V  TT  OCKO  V  i  t  V. 

^^*  Vita,  9  :  »p^oti  yxp  iv9v;  T'/iu  f/Au  "SiiTT^püpiv,  tTru^yj  'Puf/.xioic  C':rviy,ov'Js^ 
TVig   Vx'hiT^xixg. 

36"  ßell.Jad.  ii.  18.11 :  '/i  KupnpurÜTyi  zr,;  YxkCkxIu,;  ttsX/j  liTT^öipi:.  Comp. 
Bell.  .lud.  iii.  2.  4.  The  oiKpiviKii  is  mentioned  Vita,  67.  Comp.  Mi.->hii;i, 
Arachiii  ix.  G  :  p-|'iS''i*  b'C^  ^Jt^'^"l  HIVp,  "  the  ohl  citailel  of  Sepphoris." 
Tosefta,  Shahhath,  p.  129,  27th  ed.  Zuckcrmandel,  '•"nS'VQw'  NTU^'p. 

366  Vita,  65  (ed.  Bekker,  p.  340,  32)  :  riv  h  rri  Yot'hiiMticf,  -KoKioyj  xi 
fAiytarxi  1s7r<püpts  kuI  Ttßipixg.  Vita,  45  :  d;  SfT^&ijo/i/,  i^iyiajviv  ruv  iv  ta 
r»7^0^ecief.  vohiv.  Bcll.  Jud.  iii.  2.  4  :  fAtyiaTViV  f^iv  ovaaii  tvh  TxXt'Kuiu;  ■z-öhiu, 
ipvf.'joTxru  Se  iTrtKrKr^uivYiv  '/."f'V-  According  to  Vita,  25,  Tiberias, 
Sepphoris  and  Gabara  were  the  three  largest  towns  of  Galilee. 

■56-  ]Ml.  Jud.  Ü.  IS.  11. 

368  Joseph.  Vita,  8,  22,  25,  45,  65.  Two  passages  indeed  iu  tlie  J  Uli  .lud. 
seem  to  contradict  this:  according  to  Jkll.  .Jud.  ii.  20.  6,  Josephus  com- 
mitted to  the  Sepphorites  themselves  the  charge  of  fortifying  their  town, 
because  he  found  them  in  otlier  respects  "ready  for  war"  {-Trpodvfiuv;  iirl 
Toy  7rc;?is,ao»),  i.e.  against  the  Romans ;  and  according  to  Bd'.  .Jud.  ii,  21.  7, 
Sepphoris,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  conflict  between  Josephus  and  the  more 


140        §  2;J.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Josepluis  therefore  took  possession  of  it  by  force,  in  doing 
which  he  was  unable  to  prevent  its  being  phmdered  by  his 
Galilaean  troops.^^  Cestius  Gallus  consequently  sent  a 
garrison  to  the  oppressed  town,  by  which  Josephus  was  re- 
pulsed, when  he  for  the  second  time  entered  it  by  force.^'* 
Vespasian  soon  after  arrived  in  Galilee  with  his  army,  and 
Sepphoris  entreated  and  again  received  from  him  a  Eoman 
garrison."'^^  We  have  but  fragmentary  information  of  the 
further  history  of  the  town.  Its  inhabitants  are,  on  coins  of 
Trajan,  still  called  Xeir^wprjvoi  Soon  after  however  it 
received  the  name  of  Diocaesarea,  which  appears  on  coins 
since  Antoninus  Pius.  Its  official  designation  upon  coins  is : 
AtOKai(crdpeia)  lepa  a<r(uXo?)  Kal  avröivofxosi)?^^  The  name  of 
Diocaesarea  remained  the  prevailing  one  in  Greek  authors,'''^ 
though  its  original  appellation  continued  to  exist,  and  at  last 

fanatical  war  party,  stood  on  the  side  of  the  latter.  The  true  relation 
however  between  these  two  facts  is  seen  from  the  more  special  statements 
of  the  Vita.  The  Sepphorites  alleged  their  readiness  to  attach  themselves 
to  the  cause  of  the  revolution,  solely  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  off  from 
themselves  the  whole  revolutionary  party  ;  and  fortified  their  city  not 
against,  but  for  the  Eomans  (see  especially,  Vita,  65).  And  when  in  the 
winter  of  66/67  they  had  remained  a  long  time  without  Roman  protection, 
they  were  obliged  to  tack  between  the  two  revolutionary  parties,  which 
were  mutually  attacking  each  other,  and  as  far  as  possible  to  take  up  a 
friendly  position  towards  both  (see  Vita,  25,  and  especially,  Vita,  45),  to 
which  circumstance  what  is  said  in  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  21.  7  may  be  reduced. 

369  Vita,  67. 

3^"  Vita,  71.  The  remark,  Vita,  15:  ok  /"£»  kcctx  Kpxro;  iT^av  ^i7r<pw 
phot?,  refers  to  this  double  capture  of  Sepphoris. 

3^^  Vita,  74  ;  Bdl.  Jud.  iii.  2.  4,  4.  1.  The  former  garrison  sent  by 
Cestius  Gallus  had  meantime  either  withdrawn  or  was  now  replaced  or 
strengthened  by  the  troops  of  Vespasian. 

^''^  See  on  the  coins  in  general,  Noris,  v.  6,  fin.  (ed.  Lips.  562-564). 
Eckhel,  iii.  425  sq.  Mionnet,  v.  482  sq.  ;  Sappl.  viii.  331  sq.  De  Saulcy,  pp. 
325-330,  pi.  xvii.  n.  1-7.  On  a  supposed  coin  of  Sfleucus  I.  (Nikator),  Eckhel, 
iii.  426.  Mionnet,  v.  4.  On  the  identity  of  Sepphoris  and  Diocaesarea, 
Epiphan.  Haer.  30.  11,^«.  Hieronymus,  Onomast.,  ed,  Lagarde,  p.  88.  Idem, 
praefat.  in  Jonam  (Vallarsi,  vi.  390).     Hegesippus,  De  hello  Jud.  i.  30.  7. 

3^3  Eusebius,  in  Onomast.,  calls  the  town  exclusively  Aioxetiaxpeix  (see 
the  Index  in  Lagarde).  Compare  also,  beside  the  literature  cited  in  the 
preceding  note,  Socrates,  Hist.  eccl.  ii.  33.  Sozora.  Hist.  eccL  iv.  7. 
Theophanes,  Chronographia,  ed.  Bonnens.  i.  61.  Cedrenus,  ed.  Bekker,  i. 
524.     Le  Quien,  Or  lens  christ.  iii.  714. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIG  TOWNS.        141 

banished  the  newone.^'^  The  district  of  Diocaesarea  was  so  exten- 
sive, that  it  included  e.g.  the  village  of  Dabira  on  Mount  Tabor.^'^ 
32.  Julias  or  Livias^^  In  the  Old  Testament,  a  place  called 
Beth-haram  (D'jn  ^"'3  or  '{^J}  ri^2),  in  the  country  east  of  the 
Jordan,  in  the  realm  of  the  Amorite  kings  of  Hesbon,  is  men- 
tioned (Josh.  xiii.  27  ;  Xum.  xxxii.  36).  In  the  Jerusalemite 
Talmud  nno"i  n^3  is  stated  to  be  the  more  modern  name  of 
this  Beth-haram ;  '^^  and  both  Eusebius  and  Jerome  identify 
the  scriptural  Beth-haram  with  the  B7]6pa/ji.(f)6d  or  Bethramtha, 
which  was  known  to  them.'^^  The  B7]6apd/xado<;,  where 
Herod  the  Great  had  a  palace,  which  was  destroyed  during 
the  insurrection  after  his  death,  is  at  any  rate  identical  with 
the  latter.^^^  It  was  this  very  Bethramphtha,  which  was  rebuilt 
and  fortified  by  Herod  Antipas,  and  called  Julias  in  honour 
of  the  wife  of  Augustus  (Joseph.  Antt.  xviii.  2.  1 ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii. 
9.  1).  Eusebius  and  others  give  the  name  as  Livias  instead  of 
Julias,^''  and  the  town  is  elsewhere  frequently  mentioned  by  this 

3^*  On  the  continued  use  of  the  name  Sepphoris,  see  above,  notes  357- 
359.     The  place  is  still  called  Sefurije. 

3''5  Euseb.  Onomast.  p.  250  :  Axßnpoi  ...  h  ru  opsi  &ocßüp,  Iv  öpiot; 
AtoKonactpiioi.;,  Gabatha,  the  present  Jabata,  about  7-8  mil.  pass,  from 
Diocaesarea,  also  belonged  to  its  district.     See  above,  note  302. 

^•^  See  in  general,  Reland,  pp.  6-42,  874.  Pauly's  Enc.  iv.  1107. 
Winer,  RWB.  i.  ni  {s.v.  "Beth-haram").  Raumer,  p.  260.  Ritter,  xv. 
538,  573,  1186,  Seetzen,  Reisen,  iv.  224  sq.  Riehm's  Worterb.  s.v.  Beth- 
haram.  Kuhn,  Die  städtische  und  bürgcrl.  Verfassung,  ii.  352  sq.  Id. 
Ueber  die  Entstehung  der  Städte  der  Alten  (1878),  p.  426.  Tuch,  Qnais- 
tiones  de  Flavü  Josephi  lihris  historicis  (1859),  pp.  7-11. 

3^'  Jer.  Shebiith  38^  (on  Mishna,  Shebiith  ix.  2 ;  see  the  passage  also  in 
Rcland,  pp.  306-808).  Peraoa  is  liere  divided  into  three  parts,  according  to 
its  physical  conditions  of  mountain,  plain,  and  valley  (in.  nf5DC  «ind  pDJ?)-  !'» 
the  mountainous  part  lies  e.g.  Machaerus,  in  the  plain  Ilcsbon,  in  the  valley 
pn  n^a  and  n"lD3  n''a.  nnm  n''^  and  p-ic:)  n^n  are  then  stated  to  be  the 
more  modern  names  of  these  last  two  places.  In  the  Tosefta  (p.  71,  22rd  ed. 
Zuckermandel)  the  two  places  are  called  snoi  m03  n^D.  Has  the  n*3  been 
here  omitted  before  XDD"),  or  could  the  place  have  been  called  simply  sn^OI  ? 

^''8  Euseb.  Onomast.,  cd.  Lagarde,  p.  234.     Hieronj-mus,  ibid.  p.  KJo. 

379  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  4.  2.  In  the  parallel  passage,  Antt.  xvii.  10.  6,  the 
name  is  corrupted.  Instead  of  iu  '  Af/.otdol;,  as  the  traditional  text  has  it, 
we  must  read  either  iv' hpai^udcjl;  (with  the  omission  of  Beth,  so  Tuch, 
Quaestiones,  etc.,  p.  10)  or  just  iv  ByidxpoctixSoh. 

330  Euseb.  Onomast.  p.  234  :   B«^^«,«.? t'«  .  .  .  uirrt  oi  larlv  vi  vvv  kxmv 


142        §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

name.^^^  Since  the  wife  of  Augustus  was  called  by  her  own 
name  Livia  during  his  lifetime,  and  did  not  bear  the  name 
of  Julia  till  she  was  admitted  into  the  gens  Julia  by  his 
testament,^^  we  must  conclude  that  Livias  was  the  older  name 
of  the  town,  and  that  tliis  was  after  the  death  of  Augustus 
altered  into  that  of  Julias ;  but  that  this  new  official  appella- 
tion was,  as  in  the  case  of  Caesarea  Philipp!  and  Neronias, 
unable  to  banish  the  older  and  already  nationalized  name. 
Only  Josephus  uses  the  official  designation  Julias.  He  still 
mentions  the  town  by  this  name  at  the  time  of  the  Jewish  war, 
when  it  was  occupied  by  Placidus,  a  general  of  Vespasian. 
The  situation  of  the  town  is  most  accurately  described  by 
Theodosius,  the  Palestinian  pilgrim  (sixth  century),  and  after 
liim    by   Gregory  of   Tours :  it  lay  beyond   Jordan,  opposite 

[.dvYi  Kißiä.i,  Hieroiiymus,  ilihl.  p.  103  :  Betliramtha  ...  ab  Herode  in 
honorem  Augusti  Libias  cognominata.  Euseb.  Chron.,  ed.  Schoene,  ii. 
MS  sq.  :  Herodes  Tiberiadem  condidit  et  Liviadcm  (according  to  Jerome, 
also  the  Armenian).  Sijnecd.,  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  605  :  '  Houo-zi;  sKrias  Ttßrptxda, 
dg  o'joux  Tißiplw  Ketiaapo;,  6  ctiirlg  Aißixox. 

^^^  Plinius,  IL  N.  xiii.  4.  44.  Ptolemaeus,  v.  16.  9  (Aißixg  according  to 
the  Cod.  of  Vatopedi).  Euseb.  in  Onomast.  frequently.  Hierocles,  SynectL, 
ed.  Parthey,  p.  44.  The  Notitia  episcopal.,  the  same,  p.  144.  The  Acts  of 
the  Councils  (Le  Quien,  Oriens  christ.  iii.  655  sq.).  The  Vita  S.  Joannis 
Silentiarii  (in  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  see  the  passage  in  Reland,  p.  874). 
GeograpJms  Ravennas,  ed.  Pinder  et  Pai'they,  p.  84  (Liviada  as  nominat.). 
Theodosius,  De  situ  terrae  sanctae,  §  65,  ed.  Gildemeister,  1882  (Liviada 
as  nominat.).  Gregor.  Turon.  De  (ßoria  martyr,  i.  18.  On  the  nomina- 
tive formation  Liviada,  see  Ronsch,  Itala  und  Vulgata,  p.  258  sq. 

3S2  On  the  testament  of  Augustus,  see  Tacit.  Annal.  i.  8  :  Livia  in 
familiam  Jnliam  nomenque  Augustum  adsumebatur.  The  name  Julia  for 
Livia  is  found  in  authors  (see  e.g.  Tacit.  Annal  i.  14,  v.  1.  Sueton.  Calig. 
16;  Dio  Cassius,  Ivi.  46.  Plinius,  H.  N.  x.  55.  154.  Joseph,  frequently), 
and  upon  coins  and  inscriptions.  See  Pauly's  Enc.  iv.  484,  1116. 
Palestinian  coins  of  Julia,  see  in  Madden,  History  of  Jeivish  Coinage,  pp. 
141-151.     The  same.  Coins  of  the  Jews  (1881),  pp.  177-182. 

383  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  7.  6,  8.  2.  The  town  is  not  elsewhere  mentioned  by 
Josephus.  For  in  Antt.  xx.  8.  4,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  13.  2,  it  is  certainly  Juhas  = 
Bethsaida,  which  is  intended  ;  and  in  Antt.  xiv.  1.  4,  Az/S/«?  is  probably 
the  same  place,  which  is  called  A£,k/3«  in  Antt.  xiii.  15.  4,  where  it  is 
questionable  which  form  is  correct.  Comp.  Tuch,  as  above,  pp.  11,  14. 
The  Avaiii  of  Strabo,  p.  763,  which  also  lay  in  the  same  district,  and  is 
distinct  from  Livias,  might  also  be  compared,  since  it  existed  in  the  time  of 
Pompey. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       T.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        143 

Jericho,  12  711.  p.  from  that  town,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
warm  springs.^^*  Witli  this  Ensebius,  who  places  it  opposite 
Jericho  on  the  road  to  Hesbon,  coincides.^*'^  Its  cultivation 
of  dates  is  as  much  celebrated  by  Theodosius  as  by  Pliny. ''^ 

33.  Tiberias,  Tißepid^;.^^^  The  most  important  work  of 
Herod  the  Great  was  the  building  of  a  new  capital  on  the 
western  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth,  which  he  called 
Tißepidq  in  honour  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius.  It  was  situ- 
ated in  a  beautiful  and  fertile  district  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
celebrated  warm  springs  {Antt.  xviii.  2.  3  ;  Bell.  Jiicl.  ii.  9.  1  ; 
compare  above,  §  17'^).'^^^  Its  building  took  place  consider- 
ably after  that  of  Sepphoris  and  Livias.  For  while  Josephus 
mentions  the  building  of  these  two  cities  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  reign  of  Herod  Antipas,  he  does  not  speak  of  the 
building  of  Tiberias  till  the  entrance  of  Pilate  upon  his  oilfice 
(a.D.  26);  ^qq  Antt.  xviii.  2.    1-3.     This  makes  it  probable, 

38<  Theodosius,  Dc  situ  terrae  mnctae  (ed.  Gildemeister,  1882),  §  G.5  : 
Civitas  Liviada  trans  Jordaneni,  habens  de  Hiericho  niilia  xii.  .  .  .  ibi  aquae 
calidac  sunt,  ubi  Moyscs  lavit,  et  in  ipsis  aquis  calidis  leprosL  curantur. 
Gregr.  Turon.  De  gloria  martyruvi,  i.  18  :  Sunt  autem  et  ad  Levidani 
(elsewhere  Leviadem)  civitatera  aquae  calidae  .  .  .  ubi  similiter  leprosi 
iTiundatitur  ;  est  autem  ab  Hiericho  duodecim  millia. 

3^^  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lagarde,  pp.  213,  216,  233.  Comp,  also  the 
passage  from  the  Vita  S.  Joamiis  Silcntiarii  in  Reland,  p.  874.  The  data 
furnished  are  sufficient  for  an  approximate  determination  of  the  locality, 
but  there  is  as  yet  no  certain  foundation  for  more  accurately  fixing  it. 

88C  Plinius,  H.  N.  xiii.  4.  44  (see  above,  note  332).  Theodosius,  I.e. : 
ibi  habet  dactulum  nicolaum  majorem ;  also  the  note  of  Gildemeister. 

^^^  See  in  general,  Reland,  pp.  1036-1042.  Raumer,  p.  142  sq.  Winer, 
RWB.  s.v.  Robinson's  Palestine,  ii.  p.  380  sq.,  iii.  p.  342  sq.  Ritter, 
Erdkunde,  xv.  315-322.  Biideker-Socin,  pp.  382-387.  Sepp,  Jerusakm, 
ii.  188-209.  Guerin,  aalile'r,  i.  250-264.  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine, 
Memoir.f  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  i.  361  sq.,  379,  418-420 ;  also  sheet  vi. 
of  the  large  English  chart. 

388  On  tiic  warm  springs,  see  Plinius,  //.  N.  v.  15.  71 :  Tibcriade  aqni.s 
calidis  salubri.  Joseph.  Anil,  xviii.  2.  3  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  21,  6,  iv.  1.  3  ;  Vila, 
16.  Mishna,  Shahhath  iii.  4,  xxii.  5  ;  Nef/aini  ix.  1 ;  ^[nchshirin  vi.  7.  Tosofta, 
Shnlihath,  ]>.  127,  21st  ed.  Zuckermandel.  Antoninus  Martyr,  c.  7 .  in 
civitatem  Tiberiadem,  in  qua  aunt  thermae  sahae.  Jakubi  (9th  cent), 
translate«!  in  the  Zcituch.  d.  deutschen  Pal.-  Verein,  iv.  87  sq.  The  present 
Tiberias  lies  about  40  minutes  north  of  the  springs ;  and  there  is  no  reason 
for  transferring  the  former  situation  of   the   town    elsewhere.     For   tha 


144       §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

that  Tiberias  was  not  built  till  A.D.  26  or  later.^^^  Eusebius 
in  his  Chronicle  decidedly  places  the  building  in  the  14tli 
year  of  Tiberius  ;  but  this  statement  is  quite  without  chrono- 
logical value.^^*^  Unfortunately  the  era  of  the  town  occurring 
upon  the  coins  of  Trajan  and  Hadrian  cannot  be  calculated 
with  certainty.  It  appears  however,  that  the  dates  of  the 
coins  do  not  contradict  the  conjecture  arrived  at  from 
Josephus.^^^     The  population  of  Tiberias  was  a  very  mixed 

opinion  of  Furrer  (Zeiisch.  d.  DPV.  ii.  54),  that  the  ancient  Tiberias  lay  so 
close  to  the  springs,  "  that  they  were  enclosed  within  the  walls  of  the 
town,"  rests  upon  a  mistaken  view  of  Joseph.  Vita.,  16  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  21.  6. 
See  on  the  other  hand,  Antt.  xviii.  2.  3;  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  1.  3.  (The  l» 
lißiptüoim  the  twoformer  passages  means  only  "in  the  district  of  Tiberias;" 
thus  also  e.g.  in  Steph.  Byz.,  ed.  Meineke,  p.  366  :  YioiaTvioy,  opo;  Iv  'Ao-xevB« 
TJj,'  'n.oi,y,!pv'hloi.;\  p.  442:  tan  axl  iv  KvI^ik'j  xufivi  M.t7\.i<saot.;  comp.  Marquardt, 
Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  i.  1881,  p.  16,  note  5.  In  the  Old  Test,  also 
nntrj^n^in  the  district  of  Ashdod.)  The  place  where  the  springs  were 
was  called  'Efifixovg  (Antt.  xviii,  2.  3)  or  ' Af^^ccov;  (Bell.  Jud.  iv.  1.  3), 
Hebrew  nnon,  Jer.  Eruhin  v.  22d  below  ;  Tosefta,  Eruhin  p.  146,  5th  ed. 
Zuckermandel.  Comp,  also  Lightfoot,  Centuria  Mattliaeo  praemissa,  c.  74 
(Opp.  ii.  244  sq.).  Hamburger,  Real- Encyklop.  für  Bihel  und  Talmud.,  2nd 
Div.,  art.  "  Heilbäder," 

3^^  So  also  Lewin,  Fasti  sacri  (London  1866),  n.  1163, 

390  Eusebius,  Chron.,  ed.  Schoene,  ii.  146-149  relates  the  building  of  new 
towns  by  the  sons  of  Herod  in  the  following  rder  :  Philip  built  Caesarea 
and  Julias,  Herod  Antipas  built  Tiberias  and  Livias.  All  the  buildings  are 
placed  in  the  time  of  Tiberius.  Sepphoris  is  entirely  passed  over.  All  this 
puts  it  beyond  doubt,  that  the  statements  of  Eusebius  are  entirely  derived 
from  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  9,  1,  For  the  buildings  are  there  enumerated  in 
exactly  the  same  order,  also  after  the  accession  of  Tiberius,  and  with  the 
same  omission  of  Sepphoris.  Hence  the  statements  of  Eusebius  are  not 
only  without  independent  value,  but  are  besides  derived  from  the  more 
inaccurate  statement  of  Josephus  in  the  Bell.  Jud.,  and  ignore  his  more 
accurate  account  in  Antt.  xviii,  2.  1-3. 

391  On  the  coins  and  the  era,  see  Noris,  v,  6  (ed.  Lips,  pp.  552-564), 
Sanclemente,  De  vulgaris  aerae  emendatione,  p.  824  sq.  Huber  in  the 
Wiener  Numismatische  Zeitsch.,  1st  year,  1869,  pp.  404-414.  De  Saulcy, 
pp.  333-338,  pi.  xvii.  n.  9-14.  The  same,  in  the  Annuaire  de  la  Socie'ie 
Francaise  de  Numismatique  et  d'Archevl.  iii.  266-270.  Among  the  dated  coins 
only  those  of  Trajan  with  the  date  81  and  those  of  Hadrian  with  the  date 
101  are  attested  with  certainty.  Noris  and  Sanclemente  assume  also  coins 
of  Trajan  with  the  year  101,  and  accordingly  calculate  the  epoch  of 
Tiberias  to  be  A.D.  17  (then  the  year  in  which  Hadrian  succeeded  Trajan, 
i.e.  A.D.  117  =  101  era  of  Tiberius,  and  a.D.  17  =  1  era  of  Tiberius).  But  the 
coins  with  the  vear  101  certainlv  all  belong  to  Hadrian.     Other  coins  too 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    TUE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.       145 

one.  To  obtain  inhabitants  for  his  new  town  Herod 
Antipas  was  obliged  to  settle  there,  partly  by  compulsion, 
a  real  colluvies  hominuni  (see  above,  §  11'^).  Its  attitude 
however  during  the  Jewish  war  shows  them  to  have 
been  chiefly  Jewish.  The  constitution  however  was  one 
of  Hellenistic  organization.^®'^  The  town  had  a  council 
{ßovXrj)  of  600  members,^®'^  at  the  head  of  which  was 
an   ap')((üv^^^  and  a   committee  of  the    heKa    irpwroc^^^  also 

given  singly  by  numismatists  (De  Saulcy  gives  coins  of  Claudius  with  the 
year  33,  of  Trajan  with  80,  and  of  Hadrian  with  103)  are  also  doubtful. 
Hence  all  that  can  with  certainty  be  affirmed  is,  that  the  epoch  of  Tiberias 
cannot  o.t/in  earlier  than  a.D.  17.  The  consideration,  that  Tiberias  was 
probably  in  the  possession  of  Agrippa  II.  till  a.D.  100,  and  hence  could  not 
previously  have  issued  imperial  coins,  leads  somewhat  farther.  Under  this 
assumption  the  epoch  could  not  on  account  of  the  coins  of  Trajan  of  81  be 
placed  earlier  than  a.d  19.  A  still  further  point  of  contact  might  be 
obtained,  if  the  title,  which  Trajan  bears  upon  the  coins  of  81,  could  be 
certainly  determined.  For  if  he  is  on  these  called  only  Germanicus  and  not 
Daciciis,  the  coins  in  question  could  not  have  been  issued  later  than  a.d. 
103  (after  which  year  Trajan  bore  also  the  latter  title),  and  consequently  the 
epoch  could  not  begin  later  than  a.D.  22  (so  Eckhel).  If  however  in  the 
reverse  case  he  has  just  upon  these  coins  both  titles  (as  R'4chardt  asserts  in 
Huber's  above-named  work,  reading  TER  A.  instead  of  TEPM),  the  coins 
could  not  liave  been  issued  earlier  than  103,  nor  the  epoch  begin  before 
a.D.  22.     This  would  be  in  accordance  with  Josephus. 

^^^  See  on  what  follows,  Kuhn,  Die  städtische  und  hürgerl.  Ver/assuwj, 
ii.  3.53.     The  same,  Ueber  die  Entstehung  der  Städte  der  Alten,  p.  427  sq. 

893  Bell,  Jiid.  ii.  21.  9.     Comp,  in  general,  Vita,  12,  3i,  55,  58,  61,  68. 

89*  Vita,  27,  53,  54,  57 ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  21.  3.  One  Jesus  the  son  of  Sapphias, 
is  here  throughout  named  as  archon  of  Tiberias  diuing  the  time  of  the  revolt. 
Among  his  offices  was  that  of  presiding  at  the  meeting  of  the  council. 

395  Vita,  13,  57  ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  21.  9=  F?7a,  33.  See  especially,  Vita, 
13  :  TOÜS  T^j  ßov'Kvi;  TTpuTOv;  OiKX.  Vita,  57  :  rov;  OiKot  Trpüzovg  Ttßipiiuv, 
On  these  Sex«  T^puroi,  sofrequently  occurring  in  the  Hellenistic  communities, 
see  Kuhn,  i.  55  ;  Marquardt,  Rom.  Staatsverwaltung,  i.  213  so  (1881)  ;  the 
Index  to  the  Corp.  Inscr.  Grace,  p.  35.  Tliey  were  not  perhaps  the  oldest  or 
the  most  respected  members  of  the  council,  but  a  changing  committee  of  it 
with  definite  official  functions,  as  the  frequently  occurring  formula  otx«- 
"TrpuTivax;  shows  (see  Corp.  Inscr.  Grace,  n.  2639,  2929,  2930.  Add. 
2930»^,  3490,  3491,  3496,  3498,  4289,  4415b.  hK»xpuTivx.L;,  u.  3418). 
Their  chief  office  was  the  collection  of  taxes,  for  the  due  payment  of  which 
they  were  answerable  with  their  private  property,  Digest,  lib.  iv.  1.  1 : 
Mnnerum  civilium  quaedara  sunt  patrimonii,  alia  personarum.  Patrimonii 
sunt  munera  rei  vehicularis,  item  navicularis  decemprimatus :  ab  istis 
enim  periculo  ipsorum  exactiones  soleinnium  celebrantur.  Digest,  lib.  iv.  18. 
DIV.  n.  VOL.  I.  K 


146         §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I.    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

Hyparclioi  ^^'^  and  an  Agorauomos.^^'^  It  was  also  pro- 
moted to  be  the  capital  of  Galilee,  Sepphoris  itself  Leing 
subordinated  to  it  (see  above,  p.  139).  The  coins  of 
Tiberias  issued  in  the  time  of  Herod  have  simply  the  super- 
scription Tt/Septa?.^^^  After  the  deposition  of  Herod  Antipas 
Tiberias  was  transferred  to  the  possession  of  Agrippa  I. 
A  coin  of  his  time  also,  with  the  superscription  Tißepieoyv 
is  known.^^^  After  the  death  of  Agrippa  the  town  came 
under  the  authority  of  the  Koman  procurators  of  Judaea. 
It  must  at  the  same  time  have  received  new  political 
privileges  or  experienced  some  kind  of  favour  from  the 
Emperor  Claudius;  for  the  inhabitants  are  constantly  called 
TißepLet<i  KXavhtel^  on  the  coins  of  Trajan  and  Hadrian.^^" 
It  continued  to  maintain  its  position  as  capital  of  Galilee 
till  the  time  of  Nero  (Joseph.  Vita,  9).  By  him,  probably 
in  A.D.  61,  it  was  bestowed  upon  Agrippa  II.,  and  thus 
separated  from  Galilee  (Antt.  xx.  8.  4;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  13.  2  ; 
Vita,  9).'*°^  Hence  it  formed  part  of  the  realm  of  Agrippa, 
when  the  Jewish  insurrection  broke  out  in  A.D.  66.  The 
attitude  of  the  population  with  respect  to  it  was  a  very 
varying  one.  Some  desired  to  remain  on  the  side  of  Agrippa 
and  the  Eomans  ;  others — and  indeed  the  mass  of  those  without 
property — wished  to  join  the  cause  of  the  revolution ;  others 
again   took   up  a   position  of  reserve  ( Vita,   9  ;    comp,   also 

26  :  Mixta  muneia  decaprotiae  et  icosaprotiae,  ut  Herennius  Modestinus 
....  decrevit :  nam  decaproti  at  icosaproti  tributa  exigentes  et  corporale 
ministerium  gerunt  et  pro  omnibus  defunctorum  (?)  fiscalia  detrimenta 
resarciunt.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  Josephus  during  his  government  of 
Galilee  delivers  to  the  decern  primi  at  Tiberias  valuables  of  King  Agrippa, 
and  makes  them  responsible  for  them,  Vita,  13,  57. 

^^^  Belt  Jud.  ii.  21.  6  :  to??  /liurcc  rviu  nroKiv  v-upy^ois. 

s^""  Antt.  xviii.  6.  2.  On  the  office  of  the  oiyopiie.v6!A.oi,  see  Westermann  in 
Pauly's  Enc.  i.  1  (2nd  ed.),  pp.  582-584.  Stephanas,  Tties.  s.  v.  The  material 
furnished  by  inscriptions  in  the  Index  to  the  Corp.  Inscr.  Grace,  p.  32. 

3"S  Madden,  History  of  Jewish  Coinage,  pp.  97,  98.  The  same,  Coins  of 
the  Jews  (1881),  pp.  119,  120. 

333  Madden,  History,  p.  110  ;   Coins  of  the  Jews,  p.  138. 

''03  See  the  literature  cited  above,  especially  De  Saulcy. 

*"'  On  the  time,  see  above,  §  19,  Appenil  x  2. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       I,    THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS.        147 

Vita,  12,  where  the  revolutionaiy  party  is  called  /}  rcju  vavToju 
Koi  Toiv  uTTopwv  aT(i(TL'i).  This  party  had  decidedly  the  upper 
hand,  and  the  rest  had  consequently  to  submit.  A  chief  leader 
of  this  party  was  Jesus  the  son  of  Sapphias,  then  archon  of 
the  town.'**'^  Still  even  after  the  triumph  of  the  revolutionary 
torrent,  a  part  of  the  population  maintained  their  relations 
to  Agrippa,  and  repeatedly  entreated,  though  in  vain,  his 
support.*"^  When  Vespasian  had  subjected  the  greater  part  of 
Galilee  and  penetrated  as  far  as  Tiberias,  the  town  ventured 
no  resistance,  but  voluntarily  opened  its  gates  and  begged 
for  pardon,  which  was  granted  out  of  regard  for  Agrippa. 
Vespasian  indeed  allowed  his  soldiers  to  march  into  Tiberias, 
but  spared  the  town  and  restored  it  to  Agrippa.^"^  It 
remained  in  his  possession  probably  till  his  death,  a.d.  100, 
till  which  period  it  did  not  again  come  under  direct  Eoman 
rule,  to  which  circumstance  extant  coins  of  the  time  of  Trajan 
and  Hadrian  bear  testimony.*"^  Eusebius  designates  it  as  a 
TToXt?  e7riar)iio<i.^^^  It  was  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries 
after  Christ  a  chief  seat  of  Eabbinical  scholarship,  and  is 
hence  frequently  mentioned  in  Talmudic  literature.*"'' 

Of  some  of  the  last-named  towns,  as  Antipatris,  Phasaelis, 
Julias  and  Livias  it  cannot  certainly  be  determined  whether 
they  really  belonged  to  the  class  of  independent  towns  with 
Hellenistic  constitutions,  since  it  is  just  as  likely  that,  like 
other  second-rate  towns,  they  were  incorporated  in  the  general 
organization  of  the  country.  They  had  however  to  be  named 
here,  because  in  any  case  a  certain  proportion  of  the  towns 
built  by  Herod  and  his  sons  belonged  to  the  above  category. 

«»a  Joseph.  Vila,  12,  27,  53,  54.  57 ;  Bdl.  Jud.  ii.  21.  3,  iii.  9.  7-8.  The 
revolutionary  attitude  of  the  town  is  plainly  seen  throughout  the  whole 
narrative  of  Josephus  in  his  Vita. 

*03  Bdl  Jud.  ii.  21.  8-10  ;    Vita,  32-34,  68-69,  70. 

<o*  Bell.  Jud.  iü.  9.  7-8. 

*"*  A  coin  of  the  time  of  Couiniodus  has  been  ])ublished  by  Huber  in  the 
Wiener  Numismatischen  Zcitschr.  Jahrg.  i.  1869,  p.  401  sqq. 

■*°8  Onomast.,  ed,  Lagarde,  p.  215. 

*o^  Neubauer,  G^igrapJiie  dn  Talmud,  pp.  208-214.  Pinner,  Compendium 
desjerus.  und  hah.  Talmud  (1832),  pp.  109-116. 


148        §  23.   CONSTITUTION.       I.   THE  HELLENISTIC  TOWNS. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  also  possible,  that  the  number  of  the 
independent  communities  is  not  exhausted  by  the  towns  here 
enumerated.  Hence  we  cannot  look  iqwn  the  list  we  have  given 
as  a  strictly  defined  one.  For  the  times  of  Eoman  imperialism 
a  further  number  of  independent  civic  communities  would  have 
to  be  named,  which  are  here  designedly  passed  over,  because  it 
was  not  till  later  (at  the  earliest  a.d,  70)  that  they  attained 
this  position.  This  was  the  case  especially  with  Nicopolis 
(=  Emmaus),  Neapolis  (=  Sichem),  Diospolis  (=  Lydda), 
Eleutheropolis  and  the  communities  belonging  to  the  pro- 
vince of  Arabia,  as  Bostra,  Adraa  and  others.  Aelia  Capitolina 
(  =  Jerusalem)  too  would  have  to  be  mentioned  as  a  heathen  town 
for  the  period  after  Hadrian.  On  Capitolias,comp.  above,  p.  106. 
Concerning  the  'position  of  the  Jevjs  in  these  mainly  heathen 
communities  no  further  material  exists  than  what  has  been 
already  communicated  on  the  places  in  question.  The 
history  of  Caesarea  (No.  9)  is  the  most  instructive.  Here 
heathens  and  Jews  possessed  down  to  JSTero's  time  equal  civic 
rights  (laoirdkneia,  Antt.  xx.  8.  7  and  9)  and  hence  equal 
eligibility  to  the  town  senate.  As  this  of  necessity  entailed 
manifold  dissensions,  both  parties  strove  to  bring  about  an 
alteration  of  this  state  of  things,  each  desiring  to  have 
the  supremacy.  Thus  a  threefold  possibility  existed : 
1.  equality,  2.  exclusion  of  the  Jews,  and  3.  exclusion  of 
the  heathen,  from  civic  privileges.  All  three  cases  actually 
occurred.  In  the  old  Philistinian  and  Phoenician  towms 
the  Jews  hardly  possessed  the  privilege  of  citizenship.  They 
dwelt  in  them  indeed  by  thousands ;  but  were  only  tolerated 
as  inhabitants ;  and  how  strained  were  the  relations  between 
them  and  the  heathen  citizens,  is  best  shown  by  the 
sanguinary  persecution  of  the  Jews  in  many  of  these  towns 
at  the  outbreak  of  Jewish  revolution,  as  e.g.  in  Ascalon, 
Ptolemais  and  Tyre.  In  other  towns  heathen  and  Jews 
may  have  been  on  an  equality ;  this  was  especially  the  case  in 
those  towns,  which  subsequently  to  the  Maccabaean  period 
were    mainly    inhabited    by    Jews,    as    Jamnia    and    Joppa, 


§  2?.    CONSTITUTION.       IL   JEWISH  TERKITORY.  149 

Whether  heathens  were  excluded  from  civic  rights  in  any 
of  the  hitherto  named  towns  is  very  doubtful ;  and  not 
probable  even  in  Sepphoris  and  Tiberias,  The  third  possibility 
is  at  all  events  represented  by  Jerusalem  and  in  general  by 
the  towns  of  the  strictly  Jewish  territory.  Particulars  cannot 
be  further  entered  into  from  lack  of  material.  It  must  suffice 
to  have  established  the  general  point  of  sight.  On  the 
organization  of  the  Jewish  communities  in  these  towns,  see 
below,  §  27.  II.  and  §  31.  II.-III. 

II.  THE  STRICTLY  JEWISH  TERRITORY. 

The  Literature. 

Seiden,  De  synedriis  et  praefecturis  jiiridicis  veterum  Ebraeorum,  lib.  i. 
Londini  1650,  lib.  ii.  Londini  1653,  lib.  iii.  Londini  1655  (reprint  of 
the  whole  work,  Amstclodami  1679).  The  first  book  treats  of  the 
judicial  institutions  of  the  Jews  ante  legis  in  Sinai  dationcm,  the 
second  of  these  same  institutions  subsequent  to  the  giving  of  the  law 
at  Sinai,  while  the  third  is  specially  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  prerogatives  of  the  supreme  court  (the  Sanhedrim).  In  spite  of 
all  its  critical  shortcomings  this  learned  work  is  still  valuable  on 
account  of  the  rich  fund  of  material  it  contains. 

Saalschütz,  Das  mosaische  Recht,  vol.  i.  1853,  pp.  53-64. 

Winer,  Realwörterb.,  arts.  Alter,  Aelteste ;  Gericht;  Städte. 

Schenkel's  Bibellexicon,  arts.  Aelteste  (by  Schenkel) ;  Gerichte  (by 
Wittichen)  ;  Städte  (by  Furrer). 

Riehm's  Handwörterb.  des  bibl  Altertums,  arts.  Aelteste;  Gerichtswesen; 
Dorf;  Stadt. 

Arnold  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc,  1st  ed.  vol.  xiv.  p.  721  (art.  Städte). 

Leyrer  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc,  1st  ed.  vol.  xv.  p.  324  f.  (art.  Sijncdrium). 

Kuhn,  Die  städtische  und  bürgerl.  Verfassung  des  römischen  Reiclis,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  336-346. 

Köhler,  Lehrbuch  der  biblischen  Geschichte  Alten  Testaments,  voL  i.  1875, 
p.  350  f. 

Reuss,  Gesch.  der  heiligen  Schrißen  A.  T.'s,  sec.  cxiv. 

The  strictly  Jewish  territory — leaving  Samaria  out  of  view 
— consisted  of  the  three  provinces  of  Judaea,  Galilee  and 
Peraea,  and  was  enclosed  within  such  boundaries  as  would 
naturally  be  formed  by  the  contiguous  portions  of  the  districts 
belonging  to  the  surrounding  Hellenistic  towns  (comp,  above, 
§    23.   I.).      The   Gentile  element  in  those  provinces  never 


150  §23.    CONSTITUTIOIS^.       II.    JEWISH  TEKKITORY. 

formed  more  at  the  very  outside  than  a  minority  of  the  popula- 
tion, while  we  may  venture  to  assume  that,  in  the  towns,  the 
municipal  councils  were  composed  exclusively  of  Jews.  For 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that,  in  Jewish  towns  as  well,  there 
were  civic  representative  bodies  to  whom  the  management  of 
the  public  affairs  of  the  community  was  entrusted.  So  far 
back  even  as  the  earliest  period  in  the  history  of  Israel  we  find 
frequent  mention  of  "  the  elders  of  the  city  "  {'^'^V^  ''^pT)  in  the 
capacity  of  local  authorities  (see  in  general,  Deut.  xix.  12, 
xxi.  2  ff.,  xxii.  15  ff.,  xxv.  7  ff. ;  Josh.  xx.  4  ;  Judg.  viii.  14  j 
Euth  iv.  2  ff.;  1  Sam.  xi.  3,  xvi.  4,  xxx.  26  ff. ;  1  Kings 
xxi.  8,  11).  Of  how  many  members  this  body  was  composed 
we  are  hardly  ever  told,  but  their  number  must  have  been 
something  considerable.  In  Succoth,  for  example,  there  were 
as  many  as  seventy-seven  (Judg.  viii.  14).  Those  officials 
represented  the  community  in  every  department  of  its  affairs 
and  accordingly  they  were  also  called  upon  to  act  in  the 
capacity  of  judges  (see,  for  example,  Deut.  xxii.  15).  But, 
besides  these,  "judges"  (Q''t?s':^)  and  "officers"  (i3''1t2b')  are  also 
specially  mentioned  (both  classes  in  Deut.  xvi.  18 ;  while 
in  2  Chron.  xix.  5  ff.  the  instituting  of  "judges"  is  ascribed 
to  Jehoshaphat).  Now  seeing  that  the  judges  are  expressly 
mentioned  along  with  the  elders  (Deut.  xxi.  2  ;  Ezra  x.  14), 
the  two  orders  of  officials  are  in  any  case  to  be  regarded  as 
distinct,  but  probably  only  to  this  extent,  that  the  judges 
were  those  among  the  elders  to  whom  the  administration  of 
justice  was  specially  entrusted.  Similarly  the  "  officers  "  are 
also  to  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  number  of  the  "elders," 
their  special  function  again  being  to  take  charge  of  the 
executive  department.**'*  The  organization  then  that  existed 
in  later  times  is  to  be  assumed  as  having  been  substantially 
identical  with  the  one  here  in  question.  We  further  find 
that  the  "  elders  "  of  the  city  are  also  frequently  mentioned 
during  the  Persian  and  Geeek  era  (Ezra  x.  14;  Judith  vi.  16, 
21,  vii.  23  viii.  10,  x.  6,  xiii.  12).  As  regards  the  Eoman 
^"^  See  in  particular,  Knobel's  notes  on  Ex.  v.  6  and  Deut.  xvi.  18. 


§23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TEERITORY.  151 

period  ?vgain,  we  have  evidence  of  the  existence  of  local 
tribunals  at  that  time  in  such  a  statement,  for  example,  as 
that  of  Josephus,  where  he  mentions  that  Albinus,  actuated 
by  greed,  liberated  for  a  money  consideration  certain  indi- 
viduals who,  for  the  crime  of  robbery,  had  been  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  by  their  respective  local  courts  {ßovkrj)*^ 
From  what  is  here  stated  we  can  further  gather  that  it  was 
the  ßovKrj  itself  that  discharged  the  judicial  functions.  Still 
it  is  quite  possible  that  in  tlie  larger  towns  especially  there 
may  have  been,  besides  the  ßovKi],  certain  other  courts  of  a 
special  kind.  Again  it  is  the  local  Sanhedrims  that  are  to  be 
understood  as  referred  to  when,  in  Matt.  x.  17  =  ]Mark 
xiii.  9,  it  is  stated  that  the  believers  would  be  delivered  ei? 
avveBpia ;  we  may  also  regard  as  belonging  to  the  same 
category  those  courts  that,  in  Matt.  v.  22,  are  assumed  to  be 
inferior  in  point  of  jurisdiction  to  the  high  court  of  the 
Sanhedrim  ;  and  similarly  with  regard  to  the  Trpeaßvrepoi  of 
Capernaum  (Luke  vii.  3).  But  it  is  in  the  Mishna  above 
all  that  the  existence  of  local  courts  throughout  the  country 
of  the  Jews  is  presupposed  from  beginning  to  end.*^**  As 
regards  the  number  of  members  of  which  such  courts  were 
composed,  some  have  been  disposed  to  infer  from  the  Mishna 
that  the  most  inferior  ones  consisted  of  not  more  than  three 
persons.  This  however  is  based  upon  a  pure  misapprehension. 
For  the  passages  appealed  to  in  support  of  this  view  do 
nothing  more  than  simply  enumerate  the  various  questions 
for  the  deciding  of  which  and  the  various  causes  for  the  trying 
of  which  three  persons  were  deemed  sufficient.  Thus  three, 
for  example,  were   considered  sufficient  to  decide   an   action 

409  ßdl^  Jud.  ii.    14.    1  :    Ka.\  rov?    sx<    "hViOTtiee.    "htOif/.iuov;    v  —  6   r^s    Treip 
'tKciaTOi;  /3ow>>^j  vj  tuv  Trporipuv  iTrirpövan  ocTri'KvTpov  TOtj  cvy/tvia/. 

^^^  Shebiith  x.  4  :  The  terms  of  the  Prosbol-foriiiula  were  substAiitially 
as  follows:  "I  so  and  so  ileelare  before  you  the  judges  of  sich  and 
SUCH  A  PLACE  that  I,"  etc.  Sota  i.  3  :  How  is  the  husband  (of  a  woman 
suspected  of  adultery)  to  proceed?  He  is  to  brinj,'  her  before  the  local 
court,  which  will  assign  him  two  lawyers,  etc.  Sanhcilrin  xi.  4  :  A  criminal 
of  that  sort  is  tried  and  executed  neither  by  the  court  belonging  to  hii  own 
town  nor  by  the  court  at  .Jabne,  etc. 


152  §23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TERRITORY. 

involving  money,  or  to  pronounce  judgment  in  cases  of 
robbery  and  assault,  or  to  award  damages  and  such  like  ;^" 
this  number  was  also  sufficient  to  sentence  any  one  to  be 
scourged,  to  determine  the  date  of  the  new  moon,  and  decide 
as  to  the  intercalary  year  ;^^^  also  for  the  laying  on  of  the 
hands  (upon  a  sin-offering  offered  in  the  name  of  the  congre- 
gation), and  for  breaking  the  heifer's  neck  (on  the  occasion  of 
any  person  being  found  murdered).  Further  cases  for  the 
disposal  of  which  only  three  judges  were  necessary  were 
those  connected  with  the  Chaliza  and  the  refusal  of  a  man 
to  marry  the  wife  of  his  deceased  brother  (Deut.  xxv.  7-9), 
the  redemption  of  the  produce  of  fruit  trees  during  the  first 
four  years  of  their  growth,  the  redemption  of  the  second  tithe 
the  value  of  which  had  not  been  previously  determined,  the 
purchasing  back  of  certain  things  that  were  holy  to  the  Lord, 
and  so  on.*"  But  nowhere  is  it  said,  that  there  were  distinct 
local  courts  consisting  of  only  three  persons.  In  what  sense 
we  are  to  understand  the  statements  of  the  Mishna  above 
referred  to  may  be  readily  seen  from  another  passage*^* 
which  runs  thus  :  "  Actions  involving  money  are  decided  by 
three  persons.  That  is  to  say,  each  of  the  two  parties  in  the 
case  chooses  a  judge  and  then  both  the  parties  or,  according 
to  another  view,  both  the  judges,  choose  a  third  to  act  along 
with  them."  As  matter  of  fact  the  most  subordinate  of  the 
local  courts  consisted  of  seven  persons.  For  one  can  scarcely 
be  far  wrong  in  assuming  that  the  statement  of  Josephus  to 
the  effect  that  Moses  ordained  that  "  seven  men  were  to  bear 
rule  in  every  city,  and  that  two  men  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  were 
to  be  appointed  to  act  as  officers  in  every  court,"  was  intended 
to  be  regarded  as  a  description  of  the  state  of  things  that 
existed  in  Josephus'  own  time,  for  there  is  no  mention 
of   anything   of    this    kind    in    the    Pentateuch.*^^       This    is 

*^^  Sanliedrin  i.  1. 

*^2  Sanhedrin  i.  2.  Comp,  liosh  hashana  ii.  9,  iii.  1. 

*^^  Sanhedrin  i.  3.  ^^^  Sanhedrin  iii.  1. 

*^''  Antt.  iv.  8.  14  .  üp^truactu  os  x.oi,ff   SKxarnv   toKiv  äuöps;  iTrrcc  .  .  . 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TERRITORY.  153 

corroborated  by  the  fact  that  Josephus  himself,  when  on  one 
occasion  he  wanted  to  introduce  a  model  Jewish  constitution 
into  Galilee,  established  a  court  with  seven  judges  in  every 
town.*^^  No  doubt  from  this  latter  circumstance  one  might 
rather  infer  that  this  organization  had  had  no  existence  in 
Galilee  previous  to  the  revolution.  But  the  boast  of  Josephus, 
that  he  was  the  first  to  create  this  the  ideal  of  a  Jewish  con- 
stitution, may  be  said  to  be  true  only  to  this  extent,  that  he 
took  steps  to  have  it  more  rigidly  put  in  force.  In  the 
Talmud  too  we  find  "  the  seven  leading  men  of  the  city " 
("I'yn  -aiD  nv^^)  referred  to  on  one  occasion  as  forming  a  public 
board  which,  among  other  things,  was  entrusted  with  the 
management  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  community.''^'^  What 
Josephus  has  stated  with  regard  to  two  Levites  being  always 
appointed  to  act  as  vTnjperac  to  the  local  courts  (see  above 
note  415)  is  not  without  its  analogies  at  least  in  the  Old 
Testament.*^^  According  to  the  Mishna  there  were  certain 
special  cases  in  which  it  was  necessary  to  have  priests  as 
judges.*^^  In  the  more  populous  places  the  local  courts 
would  appear  to  have  been  composed  of  twenty-three  members. 
At  least  we  find  a  statement  in  the  Mishna  to  the  effect  that 
an  inferior  Sanhedrim  (i^^pp  P'l'inJD)  consisted  of  twenty-three 

Again  in  reproducing  the  law  with  regard  to  restitution  (Ex.  xxii.  6  ff.), 
Josephus  presupposes  the  existence  of  courts  with  seven  judges,  Antt. 
iv.  8.  38 :  il  oi  fiYioiv  iT^ißrjv'hou  Opuu  6  'Trianvöiii  xT^'oXiastsv,  eifix.6/i<.evo;  iTi 
Tovc  STTTX  xpirei:  o^vvru  rov  Siov  x.t.X. 

*^^  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  5,  S'tttx.  3='  lu  iKocaTV]  'Kohit  ^{Kxard ;  \_KccriaTYiai'/\. 
Those  courts  of  seven  judges  were  called  upon  to  deal  only  with  causes  of 
a  more  trifling  kind,  but  not  with  tx,  fisil^a  T7päy//.»ra  kxI  rxg  (Jiovikx; 
ii'xx;,  the  adjudication  of  which  was  rather  reserved  for  the  council  of 
seventy  which  Josephus  had  established. 

*^'^  Mcfjilla  xxvi.a :  "  Rabba  said,  that  regulation  (of  tlie  Mishna  with 
regard  to  the  sale  of  synagogues  and  their  furniture)  applies  only  to  those 
cases  in  which  the  scvc7i  kad'mg  men  of  the  town  have  not  disposed  of  them 
by  public  sale.  But  if  they  shall  have  sold  them  publicly,"  etc.  Comp, 
also  Rhenferd's  Investigatio  pniefccloriim  et  viinl.--lronim  synnijof/ae,  ii.  25 
(in  Ugolini's  T/teaauni.f,  vol.  xxi.). 

•"^  Deut.  xxi.  5;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  4,  xxvi.  29.   Knobel's  note  on  Deut.  xvi.  18. 

*'^^  Sanherlrin  i.  3.  Comp,  on  the  subject  generally  of  priests  acting  ia 
the  capacity  of  judges,  Ezek.  xliv.  24,  and  Smend's  note  on  this  passage. 


15-i  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.      II,    JEWISH  TEREITORY. 

persons,  and  that  one  of  this  sort  was  assigned  to  every  town 
with  a  population  of  at  least  120  or,  according  to  E. 
Nehemiah's  view,  of  at  least  230,  in  order  that  there  might 
thus  be  a  judge  for  every  ten  of  the  inhabitants.'*^"  It  must 
be  confessed  however  that  here  too,  as  in  so  many  other 
instances,  we  have  no  guarantee  that  the  actual  state  of 
things  quite  corresponded  with  these  regulations.  Those 
courts  of  twenty-three  members  were  likewise  empowered 
to  deal  with  criminal  cases  of  a  serious  nature  (niti'Sp  "'J'''^),*^^ 
for  we  can  also  see  from  Matt.  v.  21,  22,  that  the  trying  and 
sentencing  of  murderers  did  not  belong  exclusively  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  Sanhedrim. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Hellenistic  communes,  so  too  within 
the  Jewish  domain  the  villages  were  subordinate  to  the  towns, 
and  the  smaller  towns  again  to  the  larger  ones.  The 
distinction  between  a  town  ('»''y)  and  a  village  (i-»n,  seldom 
")S3)  is  presupposed  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment itself;  the  former,  as  a  rule,  being  an  inhabited  place 
surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  the  latter  one  that  is  not  so 
enclosed  (see  in  particular.  Lev.  xxv.  29-31);  at  the  same 
time,  towns  themselves  are  also  sometimes  distinguished  as 
walled  and  unwalled  (Deut.  iii.  5;  Esth.  ix,  19).  Moreover, 
Josephus  and  the  iSTew  Testament  uniformly  distinguish 
between  the  two  notions  ttoXi?  and  Kcofir].*'^  On  one  occasion 
the  New  Testament  speaks  of  Ärcoyu-oTroXei?  of  Palestine 
(Mark  i.  38),  i.e.  towns  which,  as  regards  their  constitution, 
only  enjoyed  the  rank  of  a  KWfir).*'^  In  the  Mishna  there 
are  three  conceptions  of  this  matter,  and  these  are  uniformly 

■*20  Sanhedrin  i.  6.  Comp.  Seiden,  De  synedriis  ii.  5.  Winer's  Real- 
wörtcrh.  ii.  554.     Leyrer  in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  1st  ed.  xv.  p.  324  f. 

*2^  Sanhedrin  i.  4. 

*22  Comp.  Winer's  Realwörterb.  ii.  510 ;  also  the  materials  to  be  found  in 
the  concordances  to  the  New  Testament.  For  the  conception  of  a  xö)y.vi  in 
the  Romano-Hellenistic  sense,  consult  Marquardt's  Römische  Staatsverival- 
tung,  vol.  i.  (2nd  ed.  1881)  p.  16  f. 

^23  The  term  x.uf/.ö'rrrj'Ktc  is  also  to  be  met  with  occasionally  in  Strabo  and 
the  Byzantine  writers  ;  consult  the  Lexicons  and  Wetzstein's  Nov.  Test.,  note 
on  Mark  i.  38. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.   JEWISH  TERRITORY.  1,55 

clistinguislied  from  each  other :  that  of  a  large  city  (Tl^),  then 
that  of  a  city  (i^),  and  lastly  that  of  a  village  CSS).*-*  The 
distinguishing  characteristic  in  the  case  of  the  first  t\vo  would 
seem  to  have  been  merely  the  difference  in  size ;  for  even  an 
ordinary  town  (i^V)  might  be  enclosed  by  a  wall,  and  indeed  it 
usually  was  so.*^^  In  the  Old  Testament  there  is  already 
frequent  allusion  to  the  subordination  of  the  villages  to  the 
towns.  In  the  lists  of  towns  given  in  the  Book  of  Joshua,  and 
above  all  in  the  fifteenth  and  nineteenth  chapters,  we  often 
meet  with  the  expression,  the  "  cities  with  their  villages " 
(I[1"'"?.Vl'1  ^"'IV'])-  Elsewhere  we  frequently  read  of  a  city  and 
its  daughter  (n'^niiS),  Xum.  xxi.  25,  .32,  xxxii.  42  ;  Josh.  xv. 
45-47,  xvii.  11  ;  Judg.  xi.  26  ;  Neh.  xi.  25  ff. ;  1  Chron.  ii. 
23,  V.  16,  vii.  28  f ,  viii.  12,  xviii.  1;  2  Chron.  xiii.  19, 
xxviii.  18;  Ezek.  xvi.  46  ff.,  xxvi.  6,  xxx.  18  ;  1  Mace.  v. 
8,  65.  And  in  keeping  with  the  idea  of  the  daughter,  we 
also  find  the  term  "  mother  "  employed  to  designate  the  chief 
town  of  a  district  (2  Sam.  xx.  19).  From  all  this  it  is,  in 
any  case,  clear  that  the  villages  were  everywhere  dependent 
upon  the  cities.  But  it  is  also  highly  probable  that  this  was 
no  less  true  of  the  smaller  towns  in  relation  to  the  larger  ones. 
For  frequently  it  is  not  only  to  villages,  but  also  to  smaller 
dependent  towns  that  the  designation  "  mother  "  is  applied  ; 
at  least  in  several  instances  is  this  most  undoubtedly  the  case 
(jSTum.  xxi.  25  ;  Josh,  xv.  45-47  ;  1  Chron.  ii.  23).  And  wliat 
we  thus  gather  from  the  Old  Testament  may  be  assumed  to 
be  no  less  applicable  to  later  times  as  well  (comp,  especially, 
1  Mace.  V.  8:  tt}v  ^lathp  koI  t«?  OvyaTepa<;  avTrj^;  ibid.  v. 
65  :  TTjv  Xeßpchv  Koi  Ta<i  Bvyarepa^;  avTP]<i).  But  it  is  in 
the  country  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  above  all,  and  in  the 

■*2*  Megilla  i.  1,  ii.  3;  Kethtthoth  \n\.  10;  Kiddushin  ii.  ;> ;  Bnha  mezia 
iv.  6,  viii.  6  ;  Arachin  vi.  5. 

*^^  noin  "I""!!?,  Arachin  ix.  3  ff.  ;  Kclim  i.  7,  On  t]>3,  comp,  Lightfoot, 
Horae  hebr.,  note  on  >fark  i,  38  (0pp.  ii.  437),  and  Levy's  Ncuhebr.  WUrterh. 
it.v.  This  word  is,  strictly  speaking,  Aramaic  Cnia)  and  frequently  occurs 
in  the  Targums  in  the  sense  of  a  fortification,  a  stronghold,  a  fortified 
town.     See  Buxtorf's  Lex.  and  Levy's  C'hald.  Wörterb.,  s.t. 


156  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.   JEWISH  TERRITORY. 

district  of  Traclionitis  in  particular,  that  capital  villages 
{fxTjrpoKWfilai),  i.e.  villages  holding  a  position  corresponding  to 
that  of  a  capital  town,  were  most  frequently  to  be  met  with.  ^' 
Thus  Phaena,  the  modern  Mismie,  is  called  /nrjrpoKtofiia  rov 
Tpd')(u)vo<i*^^  We  have  another  example  of  a  firjTpoKcofiia 
in  the  case  of  Borechath,  the  modern  Breite,  which  is  also 
situated  within  the  district  of  Traclionitis.*^®  Epiphanius 
mentions  rr)v  BaKadov  firjrpoKoyfXLav  rr}?  ^  Apaßia<i  t?}? 
^iXahe\j>ia<i^^^  Of  course  those  testimonies  only  date 
from  somewhere  between  the  second  and  the  fourth 
centuries  of  our  era ;  moreover,  the  population  of  those 
districts,  though  of  a  mixed  character,  was  composed  chiefly 
of  Gentiles. 

Any  notices  of  a  more  special  kind  that  we  have  regarding 
the  subordination  of  certain  provinces  to  some  of  the  larger  cities 
apply  exclusively  to  Galilee  and  Judaea,  and  only  date  from 
the  Eoman  period.  In  Galilee,  Scpjyhoris  was  the  place  which 
Gabinius  fixed  upon  as  the  seat  of  one  of  the  five  avveBpia  or 
(Tvvohoc ;  and  as  the  one  which  sat  here  was  the  only  one  in 
the  province  {Antt.  xiv.  5,  4 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8.  5),  Sepphoris 
became,  in  consequence,  the  centre  of  an  organization  that 
embraced  the  whole  of  Galilee.  It  is  true  the  arrangement 
of  Gabinius  here  referred  to  was  of  but  short  duration.  But 
in  later  times  as  well,  and  particularly  under  the  Idumaean 
dynasty,  the  whole  of  Galilee  was  always  subordinate  to  some 
one  capital  city,  whetlier  Sepphoris  on  the  one  hand  or 
Tiberias  on  the  other  (see  above,  notes  31  and  33).  Here 
then  we  have  an  instance  of  a  Jewish  province  being  placed  in 

*-^  See  in  general,  Kuhn,  Die  städtische  und  hürgerl.  Verfassung  des  röm- 
ischen Reichs,  ii.  380  ff.  Marqnardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  vol.  i.  2nd 
ed.  p.  427,  note  1.     The  Lexicons  under  the  word  fij^TpoKufitx. 

*2"  Corp.  Inscr.  Graec.  No.  4551  =  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  Inscr.  t.  iii. 
No.  2524.  The  inscription  dates  from  the  time  of  Alexander  Severus 
(222-235  A.D.).  On  Phaena,  see  Kaumer's  Pal.  p.  254  f.  Porter's  Five 
Years  in  Damascus,  ii.  244.     Kuhn,  ii.  384. 

^28  Le  Bas  et  Waddington,  vol.  iii.  n.  2396. 

*2^  Epiphanius,  Anacephal.  p.  145. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TEIIKITORY.  157 

subordination  to  a  capital  city  that  was  not  of  a  purely  Jewish 
character.*^'^ 

In  Judaea  again  it  is  to  the  division  of  the  province  into 
eleven  or  ten  toparchies,  vouched  for  both  by  Josephus  and 
Pliny,  that  a  special  interest  attaches.  According  to  Josephus, 
Judaea  was  divided  into  the  following  eleven  KXijpov^iai  or 
TOTrap'^iai : — (1)  Jerusalem,  (2)  Goplina,  (3)  Akrabatta,  (4) 
Thamna,  (5)  Lydcla,  (6)  Ammans,  (7)  Pella,  (8)  Idumaea, 
(9)  Engaddi,  (10)  Herodeion,  (11)  Jericho.*''^  Of  these,  the 
seven  printed  in  italics  are  also  mentioned  by  Pliny,  who, 
by  adding  to  them  the  following  three :  Jopica,  Bctho- 
leptephene,  Orine*^"^  brings  up  the  total  number  of  topar- 
chies to  ten.  The  mention  of  Orine  instead  of  Jerusalem 
cannot  be  said  to  make  any  material  difference.  But  the 
mention  of  Joppa  in  this  instance  is  quite  as  erroneous 
as  that  of  Pella  by  Josephus,  for  both  of  these  were 
independent  towns  and  did  not  belong  to  Judaea  proper. 
Bethleptepha,  on  the  other  hand,  is  mentioned  by  Josephus 
in  another  passage,  and  that  as  being  the  capital  of 
a  toparchy.*^^  We  may  therefore  obtain  a  correct  list 
if  we  adopt  that  of  Josephus  and  substitute  Betlilep- 
tepha  for  PeUa.*^*  In  that  case  the  toparchies  would  be 
grouped  as  follows  :  *^^  in  the  centre,  Jerusalem ;  to  the  north 

^3"  The  relation  is  really  oue  of  subordination,  for  Josephus  speaks 
distinctly  of  an  ä.pxni'  find  vTra.x.ovnv  ;  see  above,  notes  3G.S  and  364. 

*^^  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  3.  5  :  /nspi^irxt  8s  si;  ivOix.»  liK-zipov^iot;,  Lu  oLpxa  i^'tv 
us  ßctoi'hiiov  rot  lepoaoTwfAX,  vpoctui'ax.otja»  r^;  TrepioiKOV  -TrxuriS  uarrio  >j 
«£(p(S«Ai}  auy^xTo;,  xi  'Koittxi  6i  /air  xi/r'^v  Otriprivrxt  rcc;  roTrxpxlctg.  Yotux 
iivrepx,  x.x\  (/.er  xiirvtv  ' AKOX/ixrrx,  Qx/aiix  vpoi  rxvrxt;  x,xi  Ai/oS«  kxi 
A.y.fAxovg  x.ai  TiiXK-fi  kxI  loovftxix  kxi  'EyyxhOxi  kxi  '  llpädsiov  kxi 
'  Upixovg. 

*^^  Piiny,  Hist.  Nat.  v.  14.  70:  Reliqua  Judaea  dividitur  in  toparchi.is  X 
quo  dicemus  ordine :  Hiericunteni  pahnetis  coiisitam,  fontibus  riguani, 
Emmaum,  Lyddam,  Jopicam.  Acrebitouani,  Gophaniticam,  Thamniticani, 
Betholeptephenen,  Orinen,  in  qua  fuere  Hierosoiyina  longe  clarissima 
urbium  orientis  non  ludaeac  modo,  Herodium  cum  oppido  inlustri  ejusdem 
nominis. 

■•33  Bell  Jud.  iv.  8.  1  :   rr,v  BidT^i-r/i^puv  rOTzxoyJxu. 

■*'*  Comp.  Kuhn,  Die  städtische  und  hürrjerl.  Verf.  ii.  339. 

^35  Comp.  Menke's  Bibel-Atlas,  map  v. 


158  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TEERITOKY. 

of  it,  Goplina^^'"'  and  Akrabatta  ;*"'  to  the  north-west,  Thamna*'' 

*3o  According  to  Tal.  Peuting.  Gophna  stood  on  the  road  leading  from 
Jerusalem  to  Neapolis  (Sichern),  sixteen  miles  to  the  north  of  the  former, 
or  according  to  Euseb.  Onomast.  fifteen  miles  (ed.  Lagarde,  p.  300  :  Vo<pua. 
.  .  .  oL-ky/i^oa.  Ki^.ixg  anfisloig  n'  hoctx  riju  öoou  rvju  il;  l^isxTo'hiu  ä.yovaxv'). 
It  was  a  place  of  some  importance  in  the  time  of  Cassius,  who  sold  its 
inhabitants  as  slaves  (AjitL  xiv.  11.  2  ^  Bell.  Jud.  i.  11.  2).  The  Toipf/T/xoj 
T07rot,p)(,i»  is  also  mentioned  by  Josephus  elsewhere  (Bell.  Jud.  i.  1.  5,  ii. 
20.  4,  iv.  9.  9).  Comp,  besides,  Bell.  Jud.  v.  2.  1,  vi.  2.  2.  In  Ptolemaeus 
V.  16.  7,  it  occurs  in  the  form  of  Vov(pvot,,  Hebrew  XJSia  (Neubauer,  Geogr. 
du  Talmud,  p.  157  £f.),  the  modern  form  being  Dschifna,  Jufna.  See  in 
general,  Eauraer's  Pal.  p.  199;  Eobinson's  Palaest.  ii.  263,  264;  Guerin's 
Judee,  iii.  pp.  28-32.  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  Memoirs  by  Conder 
and  Kitchener,  ii.  pp.  294,  323,  and  the  accompanying  maps.  No.  xiv. 

*37  Akrabatta,  still  farther  north  than  Gophna  and  nine  miles  to  the 
south-east  of  Neapolis  =  Sichem  (Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lag.  p.  214  :  'Ay.pxß- 
ßiiv  .  .  ■  KUfiYi  Sf  'iariv  /y^öyt;  "hudTaax  Ni«j  vo'hiui  anf^iioig  ff).  According 
to  Mishna,  Maaser  sJieni  v.  2,  DQIpy  was  a  day's  journey  to  the  north  of 
Jerusalem,  precisely  the  same  distance  as  Lydda  was  to  the  west  of  it, 
which  is  as  near  the  mark  as  can  be.  The  '  Ax,pxßoi.rnyvi  roTrxpxi»  is  also  of 
frequent  occurrence  elsewhere  in  Josephus  and  Eusebius  (Jo.seph.  Bell.  Jud, 
ii.  12.  4,  20.  4,  22.  2,  iii.  3.  4,  iv.  9.  3-4  and  9.  Euseb.  Onomast.,  ed.  Lag. 
pp.  214,  255,  267,  294,  295).  The  place  is  known  at  the  present  day  as 
Akrabeh.  See  in  general,  Raumer's  Pal.  p.  170.  Robinson's  Palestine, 
iii.  pp.  296,  297.  Guerin's  Samarie,  ii.  3-5.  The  Survey,  etc..  Memoirs  by 
Conder  and  Kitchener,  ii.  pp.  386,  389  f. ;  and  the  accompanying  map, 
No.  XV.  Beware  of  confounding  this  with  a  range  of  hills  of  the  same 
name  in  the  south  of  Judaea,  Num.  xxxiv.  4 ;  Josh.  xv.  3  ;  Judg.  L  36 ; 
Euseb.  Onomast.  p.  214  ;  and  from  which  the  '' Kxpoc.ßxrriv/i  mentioned  in 
the  first  Book  of  the  Maccabees  (1  Mace.  v.  3  =  Joseph.  Antt.  xii.  8.  1) 
derives  its  name. 

*38  Thamna  is  undoubtedly  the  ancient  niDTlJron  or  D^riTlJpri  in 
Mount  Ephraim  where  Joshua  was  buried  (Josh.  xix.  50,  xxiv.  30  ;  Judg. 
ii.  9).  Eusebius  frequently  mentions  the  place  as  being  a  very  large  village 
within  the  district  of  Diospolis= Lydda  (see  especially,  p.  260,  ed.  Lag.: 
@xiA,v»  .  •  .  "htxf'Ai/ii  x,uyy/i  ^syaX»  iv  opioid  ^toa'Tirö'Ksug),  and  remarks  that, 
in  his  day,  people  were  shown  Joshua's  tomb  at  a  spot  near  by  (p.  246 : 
isiKVVTXt  Bs  STTtayi^uov  it;  en  uuu  uinov  ro  [^yr^fAx  -üT^rtaiov  0«,t4j/5c  x-a/^iog. 
Ihid.  p.  261  :  Qxi^uuSaxpx  .  .  .  xvr/i  iarl  (da^vx  .  .  iv  r,  u;  'in  vvu 
hix.vvTxi  TO  Tov  'l-/i(7ov  fiVTiiiix).  Thc  place  still  exists,  though  only  as 
a  heap  of  ruins,  and  is  known  by  the  name  of  Tibneh,  standing  in 
a  tolerably  straight  line  between  Akrabeh  and  Lydda,  as  was  to  be 
expected  from  the  order  of  the  toparchies  as  given  by  Josephus. 
Among  the  important  tombs  still  to  be  seen  at  this  place  Guerin 
believes  that  he  has  actually  discovered  that  of  Joshua.  See  in  general, 
Raumer's  Pal.  p.  165  f.  De  Saulcy's  Voyage  en  Terre  Sainte  (1865),  ii. 
233  f.    Guerin's  Samarie,  ii.  pp.  89-104.     Thc  Survey  of  Western  Palestine, 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TERRITORY.  159 

and  Lydda ;  *""*  to  the  west,  Emmaus ;  "**  to  the  south-west, 
Bethleptepha ;  "^  to   the    south,    Idumaea ;  *"    to   the    south- 

Memoirs,  etc.,  ii.  299  f.,  274-378,  with  the  accompanying  map,  No.  xiv, 
Miihlau  iu  Riehm's  Wörterh.  p.  1668.  lu  the  time  of  Cassias,  Thamna 
shared  the  same  fate  as  Gophna  {Antt.  xiv.  11.  2  ;  Bell.  Jiid.  i.  11.  2).  The 
toparcliy  of  Thamna  is  also  mentioned  elsewhere  by  Josephus  aud  Eusebius 
(Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  4,  iv.  8.  1.  Euseb.  Onomast..,  ed.  Lagarde, 
pp.  219,  239).  Comp,  also  Ptolem.  v.  16.  8.  We  must  take  care  to  dis- 
tinguish between  our  Thamna  aud  another   nJDFI    or  nnjpn    situated  on 

the  border  between  the  tribe  of  Dan  and  Judah  to  the  west  of  Jerusalem 
and  in  the  direction  of  Ashdod.  This  one  is  also  existing  in  the  present  day, 
and  is  likewise  known  under  the  name  of  Tibueh  (Josh.  xv.  10,  xix.  43 ; 
Judg.  xiv.  1  ff . ;  2  Chron.  xxviii.  18).  And  lastly,  from  this  we  must 
further  distinguish  a  third  one  situated  in  the  hill  country  of  Judah  (Gen. 
xxxviii.  12-14  ;  Josh.  xv.  57).  "Which  Qxy-vudx  is  meant  in  1  Mace.  ix.  50 
it  is  impossible  to  determine  with  any  certainty.  See  in  general,  Ramner, 
p.  224.  Robinson's  P«Z.  ii.  pp.  239,  240.  Guerin's  J«j Je'e,  ii.  30  f .  The  Surveij. 
etc.,  Memoirs,  ii.  417,  maps,  No.  xvi. 

^^^  Lydda  (Hebr.  ip,  afterwards  Diospolis),  the  well-known  town  on  the 
road  fi-om  Joppa  to  Jerusalem,  is  also  mentioned  {Bdl.  Jud.  ii.  20.  4)  as  one 
of  the  toparchies  of  Judaea.  On  one  occasion  Josephus  characterizes  it  as 
x.ufAYi  .  .  .  -T^oMui  TO  fisyißos  ovK  ecTTOOiovax  (^Anit.  xx.  6.  2).  For  its  history, 
comp,  especially  1  Mace.  xi.  34 ;  Joseph.  A7itL  xiv.  10.  6,  11.  2 ;  Bell.  Jud. 
i.  11.  2,  ii.  19.  1,  iv.  8.  1. 

■•■"*  Emmaus  or  Ammaus,  the  Nicopolis  of  later  times,  is  sdll  existing 
under  the  name  of  Am  was,  and  is  situated  to  the  south  by  south-east  of 
Lydda.  Owing  to  the  circumstance  of  its  standing  just  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  range  it  was  a  place  of  some  military  importance,  and  is  frequently 
mentioned  as  such  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  (1  Mace.  iii.  40,  57, 
iv.  3,  ix.  50).  For  its  later  history.  Bee  especially  Antt.  xiv.  11.  2;  Bill. 
Jud.  i.  11.  2  ;  Anti.  xvii.  10.  9 ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  5.  1,  iv.  8.  1.  It  is  also 
mentioned  as  one  of  the  Jewish  toparchies  in  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  4.  Li 
Rabbinical  Hebrew  it  is  called  D1SÖX  (Mishna,  Arachin  ii.  4  ;  Kerithoth 
iii.  7.  Lightfoot,  Chorographica  Lucae  pracmissa,  c.  4,  0pp.  ii.  479  f. 
Neubauer's  Geof/r.  du  Talmud,  pp.  100-102)  ;  it  also  occurs  in  Ptolemaeus, 
v.  16.  7,  as  'Ejuf^ccov;.  Whether  it  is  the  same  Emmaus  that  is  intended  iu 
Bell.  Jud.  vii.  6.  6  and  Luke  xxiv.  13,  is  open  to  question.  Comp,  in  general, 
Relaud's  Palaesiina,  pp.  758-7G0.  Raumer,  p.  187  f.  Winer's  Rcalwörterh. 
under  this  word.  Arnold  in  Herzog's  lüal-EncycL,  1st  ed.  iii.  778  f. 
Robinson's  Palestine,  iii.  pp.  146-151.  Kuhn,  Die  städtische  u.  biinjerl. 
Verfiissumj,  ii.  356  f .  Sepp's  Jerusalem,  2nd  ed.  i.  40  ff.  Guerin's  Judci , 
i.  293-308.  The  Surveij  of  Westeru  Palestine,  Memoirs,  etc.,  iii.  14,  36  ff., 
63-81,  and  the  maps.  No.  xvii. 

**^  According  to  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  8.  1,  Bethleptepha  stood  between  Emmaus 
and  Idumaea,  aud  should  therefore  be  inserted  here  iustca  1  of  Pella,  as 
erroneously  given  in  the  text  of  Josojihus. 

**'  Idumaea  had  been  Judaizrd  by  Jolm  Ilyrcanus  {And.  xiii.  9.  1,  xv. 


160  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TEllRITORY. 

east,  Engaddi  **'  and  Herodeion ;  ***  to  the  east,  Jericho.''" 
It  may  be  assumed  as  self-evident  that  this  division  was  made 
chiefly  for  administrative  reasons  and,  above  all,  with  a  view 
to  greater  convenience  in  the  collecting  of  the  revenue. 
Whether  those  districts  were  at  the  same  time  districts  for 
judicial  purposes  as  well,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  In  any 
case  it  is  probable  that  the  whole  organization  does  not  date 
farther  back  than  the  Eoman  period,  for  no  trace  of  it  is  to 
be  met  with  previous  to  that  time.**^  The  authorities  from 
whom  our  information  is  derived  exhibit  a  singular  indecision 
in  their  conceptions  of  the  political  character  of  the  capitals 
of  those  districts,  inasmuch  as  at  one  time  they  are  described 
as  7roXet9,  at  another  as  Kw/xac.  It  is  true  that  here  nothing 
is  to  be  made  of  the  circumstance  that  Eusebius  treats  the 

7,  9.  Bell.  Jud.  i.  2.  6).  Hence  it  was  that  the  Idumaeans  took  part  ia 
the  Jewish  insurrection  as  though  they  too  had  been  Jews  (^Bdl.  Jud.  iv. 
4.  4).     Elsewhere,  comp,  especially  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  4,  iv.  8.  1. 

443  Engaddi,  the  ancient  1*13  py  (Josh.  xv.  62  ;  I  Sam.  xxiv.  1  ff. ;  Ezek. 
xlvii.  10;  Song  of  Sol.  i.  14 ;  2  Chron.  xx.  2),  the  existence  of  which  on 
the  western  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  vouched  for  by  both  Josephus  and 
Eusebius  (Joseph.  Antt.  ix.  1.  2:  'EyyaSBi  xoT^tv  x.ii(Ji.'iui\v  Trpog  rfi  ' Ka(pa,'h- 
Tiri'^i  "Ki/Avt].  Euseb.  Onomasi.,  ed.  Lagarde,  p.  254 :  kxI  vvv  earl  xuft/i 
fieyiarri  'lovoociuu  EyyaoSi  7rupxx,sif/Avri  rn  vix,pcii  dxT^oiaatf).  In  Bell.  Jud, 
iv.  7.  2,  Josephus  calls  it  a  TZü'KiY^v/].  In  Ptolemaeus,  v.  16.  8,  it  occurs  as 
'EyyaSB«.  It  is  known  in  the  present  day  as  Ain  Dschidi.  See  in  general, 
Winer's  Realwijrterh.  under  the  word.  Raumer,  188  f.  Kobinson's  Pedestine, 
i.  pp.  500-508.  Neubauer's  Geogr.  du  Talmud,  p.  160.  The  Survey  of  Western 
Palestine,  Memoirs,  etc.,  iii.  pp.  384-386,  387,  and  the  accompanying  maps, 
No.  xxii. 

***  Herodeion  is  the  important  fortress  built  by  Herod  the  Great  in  the 
south  of  Judaea,  some  sixty  stadia  from  Jerusalem  (Antt.  xiv.  13.  9,  xv.  9.  4 ; 
Bell.  Jud.  i.  13.  8,  21.  10),  the  identity  of  which,  with  the  modern 
"Frankenberge"  standing  to  the  south-east  of  Bethlehem,  may  now  be 
looked  upon  as  generally  admitted.     Comp,  above,  §  15. 

**^  Jericho,  the  well-known  city  of  that  name  near  to  the  Jordan,  was 
the  most  important  town  in  the  east  of  Judaea,  and  for  this  reason  it  too 
was  chosen  by  Gabinius  as  the  seat  of  one  of  the  five  Jewish  courts  or 
Sanhedrims  (Antt.  xiv.  5.  4 ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  8.  5).  It  is  also  mentioned  as 
being  one  of  the  districts  of  Judaea  in  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  4.  Besides  this, 
comp,  especially  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  8.  2,  9.  1. 

**^  On  the  division  of  the  Roman  provinces  into  adminiiUrative  districts, 
see  in  general  Marquardt,  Römische  Staatsverwaltung,  vol.  i.  (2nd  ed.  1881) 
p.  500  f. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TERRITOKY.  161 

places  in  question  for  the  most  part  as  KWfiat,  for  Ly  liis  time 
matters  had  undergone  an  essential  change.**'  But  Joseplius 
himself  is  also  somewhat  undecided.  For  example,  he  speaks 
of  Emmaus  as  being  the  fxrjrpcTroXi'i  of  the  district  in  which 
it  stood,  and  obviously  therefore  as  that  of  the  toparchy ;  **^ 
whereas,  in  speaking  of  Lydda,  on  the  other  hand,  he  calls  it 
merely  a  Kcofxr^,  thus  employing  what  would  appear  to  be  the 
more  correct  designation  (see  above,  note  439).  We  are 
therefore  bound  to  assume,  that  from  the  Eomano-Hellenistic 
point  of  view  none  of  the  places  in  question  were  TroXet? 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  that  is  to  say,  they  were  not 
civic  communities  with  a  Hellenistic  constitution ;  while  it 
was  only  in  deference  to  Jewish  and  popular  usage  that  they 
were  spoken  of  as  "  cities.'"  Strictly  speaking,  tliey  ought 
rather  to  be  called  Kco/xoTroXeLq  (see  above,  note  423),  or, 
viewed  in  their  relation  to  their  respective  toparchies,  fiijTpo- 
Kcofjbiac  (see  above,  notes  427-429). 

There  was  only  one  town  in  Judaea  proper  that,  according 
to  Eomano-Hellenistic  ideas,  enjoyed  at  the  same  time  the 
rank  of  a  ttoX^?,  and  that  was  Jerusalem.  To  this  latter  all 
the  rest  of  Judaea  was  subordinate,  so  that  it  ruled  over  it 
(Judaea)  «09  ßaalXeiov  (see  note  431).  Consequently  its 
relation  to  Judaea  was  similar  to  that  in  which  tlie  Hellenistic 
cities  stood  to  their  respective  districts.*"*®  This  among  other 
things  is  implied  in  the  style  of  address  that  is  made  use  of 
in  the  imperial  edicts  issued  to  the  Jews  and  which  run 
thus:  ' lepoaoXvfxvTOiv  äp')(ovai,  ßouXrj  hrjfia),  ^lovSatcov  ttuvtI 
edvev,  terms  precisely  similar  to  those  employed  in  the  edicts 

**"  The  names  of  several  toparchies  ('Ax^ ot/SaTT^i/'^,  &xfivirix.>i)  wore  no 
doubt  still  retained  in  Eusebius'  day,  but  the  constitution  itself  had  been 
essentially  altered  by  the  establishment  of  new,  independent  clvitalrs  such 
as  Diospolis,  Nicopolis  and  others.  The  result  of  this  was  that  Thamna, 
for  example,  ceased  to  be  any  longer  the  capital  of  a  toparchy,  but  was  now 
reduced  to  the  position  of  a  kÜ/^yi  ,asy«A»i  h  6piat:  AtooT^oMu;  (see  above, 
note  488),  and  so  became  subordinate  to  what  was  formerly  known  aa 
Lydda. 

"8  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  8.  1. 

*'*^  Comp.  Kuhn,  Die  xtiidthc'hc  viul  hlirr/ej-l.  T'rr/h.v.v^f?;*/.  ii.  812-345. 
DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  L 


162  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       II.    JEWISH  TERRITOEY. 

addressed  to  the  Hellenistic  communes  where,  in  like  manner, 
the  city  with  its  council  ruled  over,  and  therefore  was 
regarded  as  representing  the  whole  district  to  which  it 
belonged.^""  It  is  further  probable  that  the  council  (the 
Sanhedrim)  of  Jerusalem  was  also  responsible  for  the  collec- 
tion of  the  taxes  throughout  the  whole  of  Judaea.^^^  Again 
there  is  a  reminiscence  of  the  circumstance  of  the  "  elders " 
exercising  authority  over  the  whole  of  Judaea  still  preserved 
to  us  in  the  Mishna.*^^  But  since  the  death  of  Herod  the 
Great  at  least,  the  civil  jurisdiction  of  the  Sanhedrim  of 
Jerusalem  was  entirely  restricted  to  Judaea  proiwr.  Ever 
since  then,  Galilee  and  Peraea  were,  as  regards  their  political 
relations,  entirely  severed  from  Judaea,  or  at  all  events  formed 
independent  spheres  of  administration,  as  has  been  pointed 
out  above  with  special  reference  to  Galilee.     And  least  of  all 

*s"  Anlt.  XX.  1.  2.  Comp,  besides  for  similar  styles  of  address  as 
employed  in  edicts,  Antt.  xiv.  10  {^ihaviav  xq-)(,ov(Ji  ßov'hyi  o'Ji/^u,  ^'E(psaiu!> 
ßof?i»5  }ceil  cLpyfivai  nal  ^^,uu,  and  such  like). 

*^^  When,  after  the  first  throes  of  the  insurrection,  it  was  resolved  to 
return,  for  a  moment,  to  a  peaceful  attitude,  the  magistrates  and  members 
of  the  council  of  Jerusalem  distributed  themselves  over  the  villages  for  the 
purpose  of  collecting  the  arrears  of  the  tribute  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  1 :  dg  Se 
T«?  y.u,uoe.e:  o'i  n  (x,p-)(,(t'jTis  x-xi  o'l  ßov'Aivrxl  y,ipia6ivTig  -vovg  (popov;  o-yi/sXsyoi/). 
The  sums  from  the  different  quarters  were  speedily  gathered  together  and 
were  found  to  amount  in  all  to  forty  talents.  But,  immediately  thereafter, 
Agripjia  sent  the  oLpxovTig  and  ovjotToi  to  Caesarea  to  Florus  with  the 
request  that  he  would  appoint  from  among  them  tribute  collectors  for  the 
country  (ibid,  hx  kmrjo;  s|  uvtuv  »■yröhil^vj  toii;  tviv  x^P»"  (popo'Küy'ijaoi/rot.i). 
Now,  seeing  that  this  took  place  after  the  taxes  of  the  district,  and  there- 
fore, of  course,  of  the  toparchy  of  Jerusalem,  had  been  aLready  collected,  it 
follows  that,  by  the  term  ;<;<yp«,  the  whole  of  Judaea  is  to  be  understood. 
It  was  therefore  for  the  whole  of  this  province  that  the  collectors  were  to 
be  appointed  from  among  the  äpx,ouTi?  and  ovuuroi  of  Jerusalem.  For  the 
Roman  practice  of  employing  city  councils  as  a  medium  for  collecting  the 
taxes,  comp,  in  general,  Marquardt,  i.  501. 

^52  Taanith  iii.  6 :  "On  one  occasion  the  elders  Avent  from  Jerusalem  to 
visit  their  toions  (Dnny^  D"'^nn"'?0  a'':pr  ITlO  a^d  appointed  fasts,  because 
they  found  in  Ascalon  (jl^p^'Sn)  a  patch  of  blighted  corn  about  the  size  of 
the  mouth  of  an  oven,  etc."  As  Ascalon  never  belonged  to  the  province  of 
Judaea,  this  notice  is  in  itself  unhistorical,  though  it  is  correct  in  so  far  as 
it  contains  a  reminiscence  of  the  fact,  that  at  one  time  the  towns  of  Judaea 
were  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  "  elders  "  of  Jerusalem. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       HI.    SANHEDRIM.  103 

can  we  venture  to  make  use  of  the  circumstance  that  tlie 
rebellion  in  Galilee  was  directed  from  Jerusalem  as  an  ar-ni- 
ment  to  show,  that  in  times  of  peace  as  well,  Galilee  was 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  Sanhedrim. 
For  the  circumstances  here  in  question  are  obviously  of  an 
exceptional  character.  It  was  only  in  earlier  days,  and 
particularly  during  the  Asraonaean  period,  that  the  wliole 
land  of  Judaea  could  be  said  to  have  been  really  one  in  a 
political  sense  as  well  (comp,  below,  chap.  iii.).  As  the 
council  of  Jerusalem  could  scarcely  have  been  able  to  attend 
to  the  administration  of  justice  in  all  its  details,  it  is  ante- 
cedently probable  that,  besides  the  supreme  Sanhedrim,  there 
would  be  one  or  more  inferior  tribunals  in  Jerusalem.  Of 
this  too  the  Mishna  has  preserved  a  reminiscence,  tliough  it 
happens  to  be  a  somewhat  confused  one.*^ 


III.  THE  SUPREME  SANHEDKLM  IX  JERUSALEM. 
The  LrrEiiATURE. 

Seiden,  De  sfjnedriis  et  praefecturis  juridicis  veterum  Ehraeormn,  lib.  i.-iii., 

Londini  1650-1655  (comp,  above,  p.  lo'2). 
Meu.schen,  Novum   Tcstamcutum  ex   Talmnde  et  antiquitatihus  Hebraeorum 

dlustratum  (Lips.  1736),  pp.  1181-1199 :  Diatribe  de  N^B'J  seu  directorc 

ISynedrii  M.  Hebraeorum. 

*^^  Sanhedrin  xi.  2:  "There  were  three  courts  of  justice  (pjH  TID)  in 
Jerusalem.  One  held  its  sittings  at  the  eutrauce  to  the  temple  mount  (nnS  hv 
JT'Sn  "in),  another  at  the  entrance  to  the  court  of  the  temple  (mtyn  nriD  ^y), 
and  the  third  in  the  square  chamber  (nVJn  nDJ^63)•  Tlie  [i.irtie.s  came 
with  their  causes  to  the  one  that  sat  at  the  entrance  to  the  temple  mount, 
and  the  pre.siding  judge  said  :  '  Thus  Jiave  I  and  thus  have  my  colleagues 
pronounced  ;  thus  have  I  and  thus  have  my  colleagues  resolved.'  If  then 
the  court  had  a  tradition  applicable  to  the  case  in  question  it  ,c:ave  a 
decision.  But  if  not,  the  parties  went  to  the  tribunal  at  the  entrance  to 
the  court  of  the  temple  and  there  restated  their  case.  If  this  one  again 
had  a  tradition  bearing  upon  the  case,  it  gave  a  decision.  But  if  not, 
then  the  parties  along  with  the  members  of  those  courts  appeared  before 
the  supreme  court  in  the  square  cliamber,  the  fountainhead  of  law  for 
the  whole  of  Israel."  The  schematism  with  reference  to  the  places  at 
which  the  courts  were  helii,  is  of  itself  suHicient  to  siiow  that  we  are  not 
here  dcalins:  with  an  authentic  historical  tradition. 


164  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

Carpzov,  Apparatus  hislorico-criticus  antiqidtatum  sacrl  codicis  (174:8),  jjp 

550-600. 
Hartnianu,  Die  enge  Verhiadung  des  Alten  Testaments  mit  dem  Neuen  (1831), 

pp.  166-225. 
Winer,  liealicörterb.  ii.  551-554,  art.  "  Synedrium." 
Sachs,  Ueher  die  Zeit  der  Entstehung  des  ISynhcdrins  (Frankel's  Zeitschr.  für 

die  religiösen  Interessen  des  Judenth.,  1845,  pp.  301-312). 
Saalschütz,  Das  mosaische  Rechte,  2nd  ed.  1853,  i.  49  ff.,  ii.  593  ff.     Also 

his  Archäologie  der  Hebräer,  vol.  ii.  1856,  pp.  249  ff.,  271  ff.,  429- 

458. 
Levy,  Z)i'e  Präsidentur  im  Synedrium  (Frankel's  Monalsschr.  f.  Gesch.  und 

Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  1855,  pp.  266-274,  301-307,  339-358). 
Herzfeld,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel,  vol.  ii.  (1855)  pp.  380-396. 
Jost,  Geschichte  des  Judenthums  und  seiner  Secten,  vol.  i.  (1857)  pp.  120- 

128,  270-281.     Comp,  also  pp.  403  ff.,  vol.  ii.  (1858)  pp.  13  ff.,  25  ff. 
Geiger,  Urschrift  und  lieber  Setzungen  der  Bibel  (1857),  p.  114  ff. 
Keil,  Handbuch  der  bibl'schen  Archäologie  (2nd  ed.  1875),  pp.  714-717. 
Leyrer,  art.  "Synedrium,"  in  Herzog's  Reed-Encycl.,  1st  ed.  vol.  xv.  (1862) 

pp.  315-325. 
Langen,  Das  jüdische  Synedrium  und  die  römische  Procuratur  in  Judüa  {Tab. 

Theo!.  Quartalschr.  1862,  pp.  411-463). 
Grätz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  vol.  iii.  (3rd  ed.  1878)  pp.  110  ff.,  683-685. 
De  Wette,  Lehrbuch  der  hebräisch-jüdischen  Archäologie  (4th  ed.  1864),  pp. 

204-206. 
Ewald,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel  (3rd  ed.  1864-1868),  iv.  217  ff.,  v.  50, 

vi.  697  ff, 
Kuenen,  Over  de  samenstelling  van  het  Sanhedrin  (  Verslagen  en  Mededeelingeu 

der  koninkl.  Academic  van  Wetenschappen,  Afdeeling  Letterkunde,  Deel 

X.,  Amstertlam  1866,  pp.  131-168).     Comp,  also.  De  Godsdienst  van 

Israel,  ii.  (1870)  pp.  512-515. 
Derenbourg,  Histoire  de  la  Pcdestine  (1867),  pp.  83-94,  465-468. 
Giusburg,  art.  "Sanhedrim,"  in  Kitto's  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical  Literature. 
Hausrath,    NeutestamentUche   Zeitgeschichte,    vol,    1.    (2nd  ed.    1873)   pp. 

63-72. 
Wieseler,  Beiträge  zur  richtigen    Würdigung   der   Evangelien   (1869),   pp. 

205-230. 
Keim,  Geschichte  Jesu,  iii.  pp.  321  ff.,  345  ff. 
Wellhausen,  Die  Pharisäer  und  die  Saddiicäer  (1874),  pp.  26-43. 
Hollzmann,  art.  "  Synedrinm,"  in  Scheukel's  Bibellexicon,  v.  446-451. 
Hoffmann  (ü.),  Der  oberste  Gericlitshof  in  der  Stadt  des  Heiligthums  {Progr. 

des  Rabbiner-Semlnares  zu.  Berlin  für  1877-1878).     Also  bis  Hie  Präsi- 
dentur im  Synedrium  (Magazin  für  die  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  v.  Jahrg. 

1878,  pp.  94-99). 
Reuss,  Geschichte  der  heil.  Schriften  Alten  Testaments  (1881),  sees,  ccclxxvi., 

ccccxcv, 
Hamburger,  Real-Encyclopüdic  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  part  2,   1883,  art. 

"  Synhedrion  ;  "  also  the  articles  "  Nassi  "  and  "  Abbethdin." 
Stopfer,  Le  Sanhedrin  de  Jerusalem  cm  pn-emier  siecle  {Revue  de  theohgieet  ie 

philosophic  [LaiiFanne],  1884,  pp.  105-119). 


§  -Id.   CONSTITUTIOX.       III.    SANIIEDIÜ.M.  1G5 

1.  Its  liistonj.  There  is  no  evidence  to  show  that,  incviov.s 
to  the  Gi^eek  23criod,  there  existed  at  Jerusalem  an  aristocratic 
council  claiming  to  exercise  either  supreme,  or  what  was 
substantially  supreme,  authority  and  jurisdiction  over  the 
whole  Jewish  nation.  It  is  true  no  doubt  that  Eabbinical 
exegesis  has  sought  to  identify  the  Sanhedrim  of  later  times 
with  the  council  of  seventy  elders  that,  at  his  own  request, 
had  once  been  granted  to  Moses  to  assist  him  with  its 
advice  (Num.  xi.  16),  and  has,  in  consequence,  assumed 
that  this  same  council  continued  without  interruption  from 
the  days  of  Moses  down  to  Talmudic  times.  But  during  the 
first  thousand  years  of  this  period  we  find  practically  no  trace 
whatever  of  its  existence.  For  the  "  elders  "  that  are  some- 
times mentioned  as  being  the  representatives  of  the  people 
(for  example  in  1  Kings  viii.  1,  xx.  7  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  1  ; 
Ezek.  xiv.  1,  xx.  1)  did  not  constitute  a  regularly  organized 
court  like  the  future  Sanhedrim.  Then  again,  the  supreme 
court  at  Jerusalem,  the  existence  of  which  is  presupposed  in 
the  Deuteronomic  legislation  (Deut.  xvii.  8  ff.,  xix.  16  ff.),  and 
the  institution  of  which  the  author  of  Chronicles  ascribes  to 
Jehoshaphat  (2  Chron.  xix.  8),  was  merely  a  court  of  justice 
with  functions  of  an  exclusively  judicial  character,  and  not  a 
council  governing,  or  at  all  events  substantially  governing,  the 
country  as  was  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  Graeco-Eoman  age.'*'^'^* 
But  further,  it  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  uncertain  whether  any 
such  court  as  that  of  the  Sanhedrim  existed  even  in  tlie 
Persian  era.  No  doubt,  at  that  time,  the  munic'qxd  Council 
of  Jerusalem  formed  the  centre  of  the  small  Jewish  common- 
wealth very  much  as  it  did  at  a  subsequent  period.  And 
thus  far  we  might  be  justified  in  understanding  the  "elders" 
of  the  Book  of  Ezra  (Ezra  v.  5,  9,  vi.  7,  14,  x.  8),  and  the  D^lin 
and  D'3Jp  of  the  Book  of  Nehemiah  (Neh.  ii.  16,  iv.  8,  13, 
V.  7,  vii.  5),  as  corresponding  somewhat  to  the  future  Sanhe- 

■•^''a  Such  certainly  is  the  way  Joscphus  conceives  of  the  matter  wlien, 
following  tlie  analogy  of  a  later  order  of  things,  he  speaks  of  the  court  of 
justice  here  referred  to  under  the  designation  of  -^  yipoixj.oe.  (Aiitl.  iv.  8.  41). 


166  §  23,    CONSTITUTION.       ni.    SANHEDRIM. 

drim.  But  judging  from  the  whole  way  in  which  they  are 
mentioned,  it  is  more  probable  that  the  various  orders  referred 
to  are  regarded  in  their  individual  capacity  and  not  as  con- 
stituting an  organized  body.  In  any  case  the  existence  of  a 
Jewish  ^epovaia  earlier  than  the  Greek  period  cannot  be 
proved  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  The  first  occasion  on 
which  it  is  mentioned,  and  that  under  this  designation,  is  in 
the  time  of  Antiochus  the  Great  (223-187  b.c.),  so  that  it 
must,  of  course,  have  been  in  existence  as  early  as  the  time 
of  the  Ptolemies.'*^*  Now  seeing  that,  in  its  desire  for  reform 
everywhere  and  in  everything,  Hellenism  had  set  itself  to 
reorganize  political  institutions  as  well,  we  are  bound  to 
assume  that,  in  all  probability,  it  was  just  the  new  Greek 
rulers  who  would  give  to  the  Jewish  yepovala  the  form  in 
which  it  was  met  with  at  the  period  now  in  question, 
whether  that  form  were  entirely  an  original  one  or  whether 
it  were  simply  a  reorganization  of  a  similar  court  that 
was  already  in  existence  under  the  Persian  rule.  From 
the  circumstance  of  the  designation  yepova-ca  being  applied  to 
it,  it  is  clear  that,  unlike  the  majority  of  Greek  councils,  this 
was  not  a  democratic,  but  an  aristocratic  body.*'^^  This  same 
circumstance  would  seem  i'urther  to  show  that,  so  far  as  its 
original  institution  is  concerned,  this  court  dates  back  to  an 
earlier  period,  and  therefore  to  the  time  of  the  Persian  rule. 
As  we  may  well  conceive,  its  powers  would  be  of  a  tolerably 
large  and  extensive  character.  Por  the  Hellenistic  kings  had 
conceded  a  great  amount  of  internal  freedom  to  municipal 
communities,  and  were  on  the  whole  satisfied  if  the  taxes 
were  duly  paid  and  their  own  supremacy  duly  recognised. 
At  the  head  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth,  and  therefore  of 
the  yepovala  as  well,  stood  the  hereditary  high  priest.      It  was 

■•51  Antt.  xii.  3.  3.  For  this  whole  matter,  comp.  Kueiien's  admirable 
dissertation  in  the  Verslagcu  en  Mcdedcelivgen  der  koninJcl.  Akademie  van 
Wetenschappen,  I.e. 

455  ^  yipovai»  is  always  an  aristocratic  bod}'.  The  Council  of  Spaita  is 
expi'essly  described  as  such,  and  so  too  with  regard  to  councils  generally  in 
the  Doric  States.     See  Westermann  in  Pauly's  lical-Enc.  in.  849  f. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTIOX.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  167 

this  latter,  in  conjunction  with  the  yepovaia  over  which  he 
presided,  that  practically  regulated  the  whole  internal  affairs 
of  the  nation. 

After  the  Maccahaean  insurrection  the  old  liigh-priestly 
dynasty  was  superseded,  its  place  being  now  supplied  by  the 
new  Asrnonaean  line  of  higii  priests,  which  began  with  Simon, 
and  which  was  likewise  a  hereditary  one.  Then  again  the 
old  yepovaia  must  have  been  essentially  revolutionized  through 
its  being  purged  of  every  element  in  it  suspected  of  Greek 
sympathies  and  leanings.  But  the  court  itself  still  continued 
to  exist  and  exercise  its  functions  along  with  and  under  the 
Asrnonaean  princes  and  high  priests ;  for  even  these  latter 
could  not  venture  to  go  so  far  as  entirely  to  discard  the  old 
nobility  of  Jerusalem.  Hence  we  find  the  7e/)oi;o-/a  mentioned 
in  the  time  of  Judas  (2  Mace.  i.  10,  iv.  44,  xi.  27;  the 
rrrpeaßvrepoi  rov  Xaov  of  1  ]\Iacc.  vii.  33  being  also  identi- 
cally the  same  thing),  of  Jonathan  (1  Mace.  xii.  6:  rj  yepoua-ia 
Tov  edvov<i  ;  ibid.  xi.  23:  ol  irpeaßvrt^poi  'laparfK;  ibid.  xii. 
35  :  oi  irpeaßvTepoi  rov  Xaov)  and  of  Simon  (1  Mace.  xiii. 
36,  xiv.  20,  28).*^^  Its  existence  is  likewise  presupposed 
in  the  Book  of  Judith,  which  probably  belongs  to  the  period 
now  in  question  (Judith  iv.  8,  xi.  14,  xv.  8).  The  assump- 
tion of  the  title  of  king  on  the  part  of  the  Asrnonaean  princes, 
and  above  all  the  autocratic  rule  of  an  Alexander  Jannaeus, 
indicated  no  doubt  an  advance  in  the  direction  of  a  pure 
monarchy.  But,  for  all  that,  the  old  jepovarui  still  continued 
to    assert   itself  as   much  as  ever.      At  least  in  the  reign  of 

■•'^  It  is  interesting  io  this  connection  to  comijare  1  Mace.  xii.  G  with 
1  Mace.  xiv.  20.  The  matter  in  hand  is  the  correspondence  between  the 
Jews  and  the  Spartans.  In  the  former  of  those  pa.ssages  (1  Mace.  xii.  6  = 
Joseph.  Antl.  xiii.  5.  8)  the  Jews  as  the  senders  of  the  comnumication  style 
themselves  thus :  'luvddxv  äp-^npiv;  y.ctl  r,  yipova iu  tov  idvovg  kxi  oi  itpiii 
Kotl  6  "KoiTOi  oil/no;  Til)v  'lovoxioiv.  In  the  reply  of  the  Spartans  the  terms 
of  the  address  (1  Mace.  xiv.  20)  are  as  follows :  ^ty-um  itpu  /^.iyä.'hu  Kai 
TO<ff  vpsaßvTipotf  Kxl  Tolg  icptvut  kscI  t^  Ao/tt^'  tuv  lovOatiuv.  Observe  (1) 
that  5}  yipovaioc  and  o/  -Trpiaßvnpoi  are  identically  the  same  ;  (2)  that  in  both 
instances  the  classification  is  of  &  fourfold  character-  Iligli  priest,  gorousia, 
priests,  people. 


168  §  -23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

Alexandra  we   find   tcov  ^lovBaifov  ol  irpeaßvTepot  expressly 
mentioned  {Äntt.  xiii.  16.  5).^^'^ 

It  is  true  that,  when  a  new  order  of  things  was  introduced 
by  Pompey,  the  monarchy  was  aholished.  But  the  high 
priest  still  retained  the  'rrpoaracTLa  rov  e6vov<;  [Äntt.  xx.  10), 
and  therefore  it  may  be  presumed  that  meanwhile  the  position 
of  the  <yepova-La  would  remain  essentially  the  same  as  before.^^^ 
The  existing  arrangements  however  were  rather  more  seriously 
disturbed  by  Gabiuius  (57-55  B.c.),  when  he  divided  the 
whole  of  the  Jewish  territory  into  five  avvoSot  (Bell.  Jud.  i. 
8.  5)  or  a-vveSpca  {Äntt.  xiv.  5.  4).*"^  Now,  seeing  that  of 
those  five  synedria  three  were  allotted  to  Judaea  proper  (viz. 
those  of  Jerusalem,  Gazara  and  Jericho)  it  follows  that  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  council  of  Jerusalem,  if  it  really  retained 
anything  of  its  previous  character  at  all,  would  extend  only 
to  something  like  a  third  part  of  the  province.  But  probably 
that  measure  meant  rather  more  than  a  mere  limiting  of 
jurisdiction.  For  the  five  crvviBpca  established  by  Gabinius 
were  not  municipal  councils,  but — as  indeed  we  might  have 
supposed  from  the  fact  that  Josephus  uses  the  term  crvvoBot, 
as  a  synonymous  expression — genuine  Roman  conventus  juri- 
dici,  "  districts  for  judicial  purposes,"  into  which  the  Eomans 
were  in  the  habit  of  dividing  every  province.^^*'     And,  that 

*^^  Similarly  iu  Tyre  and  Sidon,  for  example,  there  was  a  council  asso- 
ciated with  the  king  in  the  direction  of  affairs.  See  Movers,  Die  Phönizier, 
ii.  1  (1849),  pp.  529-542.  Kuhn,  Die  städtische  und  hürgerl.  Verfassung, 
ii.  117. 

■*fi8  In  tjie  Psalms  of  Solomon,  which  for  the  most  part  were  composed 
in  the  time  of  Pompey,  the  author  is  in  the  habit  of  apostrophizing  as 
follows  any  public  person  or  party  that  he  happens  to  dislike :  iuxzi  av 
Kctd-fiocti  ßißriy.i  Iv  avvilpiu  (Ps.  iv.  1).  Now,  as  it  is  clear  from  the  context 
that  by  the  term  avAlpiou  we  are  to  understand  a  court,  it  is  quite  possible 
that  it  is  our  yipovaicc  that  is  here  referred  to.  But,  owing  to  the  ambiguous 
nature  of  the  expression  itself  and  the  impossibility  of  fixing  with  greater 
precision  the  date  of  the  composition  of  the  psalm,  there  is  historically 
but  little  to  be  gleaned  from  this  passage.  Any  light  that  is  to  be  thrown 
upon  it  must  be  derived  from  what  we  already  know  regarding  the  existing 
order  of  things. 

*^3  On  this  comp,  above,  §  13. 

^^^  Comp.   Marquardt's  Kömische  Staatsverwaltung,   i,    (1881),   p.   501. 


§23.    CONSTITUTION,       III.    SANTIEDKIM.  169 

being  the  case,  the  measure  in  question  must  have  been 
neither  more  nor  less  than  a  stricter  application  to  Judaea  of 
the  Roman  system  of  provincial  government.  As  things  now 
stood  the  council  of  Jerusalem  no  longer  exercised  sole  juris- 
diction within  the  circuit  to  wliich  it  belonged,  but  only  in 
conjunction  with  the  other  communities  within  this  same 
district.  The  arrangements  of  Gabinius  however  continued 
to  subsist  only  somewhere  about  ten  years.  For  they  were 
in  turn  superseded  by  the  new  system  of  things  introduced 
by  Caesar  (47  B.c.).  This  latter  reappointed  Hyrcanus  II.  to 
his  former  office  of  iOvap^Vi  of  the  Jews  (see  above,  §  13); 
while  it  is  distinctly  evident  from  a  circumstance  that  occurred 
about  that  time,  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  council  of  Jeru- 
salem once  more  extended  to  Galilee  as  well.  The  circum- 
stance in  question  was  the  occasion  on  which  Herod  when  a 
youth  was  required  to  appear  before  the  avvehpiov  at  Jerusalem 
to  answer  for  his  doings  in  Galilee  {Antt.  xiv.  9.  3-5).  Here 
for  the  first  time,  as  frequently  afterwards,  the  council  of 
Jerusalem  was  designated  by  the  term  avvkhptov.  As  it  is 
unusual  elsewhere  to  find  this  expression  applied  to  civic 
councils,  such  a  use,  in  this  instance,  is  somewhat  strange, 
but  probably  it  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  council 
of  Jerusalem  was  conceived  of  as  being  above  all  a  court  of 
justice  (n  ^"'?).  For  it  is  in  this  sense  that  avveBpiov  is 
specially  used  in  later  Greek,'**'^ 

Kuhn  (Die  städt.  n.  hiirgerl.  Verf.  ii.  336,  367)  also  regards  tlic  Synedria 
of  Gabinius  as  identical  with  the  convenius  juridici  of  the  Romans. 

*^^  Hesychius,  Lex.  (see  word),  defines  awiopto»  precisely  by  the  term 
ZiKecoTyipiov  (a  court  of  justice).  In  the  Sept.  version  of  Prov.  xxii.  10 
avvihpio»  is  given  as  the  rendering  of  pi.  Comp,  also  Psalms  of  Solomon 
iv.  1.  In  the  New  Testament  again  avuilpix  mean  simply  "courts  of 
justice"  (Matt.  x.  17;  Mark  xiii.  9);  similarly  in  the  Mishtia  (see,  in 
particular,  Sauhedrin  i.  5,  D''D3t;'i'  nV"nn:D  =  courts  for  the  tribes,  and  i.  6, 
njDp  p"nn3D  =  au  inferior  court  of  justice).  Hence  Steph.  in  his  Tfie.t. 
(see  word)  correctly  observes:  praecipuc  ita  vocatur  consessus  judicum. 
It  is  true  that,  in  itself,  owiopiov  is  a  very  comprehensive  ttrm  and  may  be 
applied  to  every  "  assembly  "  and  every  corporate  body,  even  to  the  Roman 
senate,  for  example  (see  in  general,  Stephanus,  This.,  under  word,  and 
Weotermaun    in    Pauly's   Enc.   vi.    2.    1535).      It   is   but    comparatively 


170  §  2;J.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

Herod  the  Great  inaugurated  his  reign  by  ordering 
the  whole  of  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim  to  be  put 
to  death  {Antt.  xiv.  9.  4 :  7rdvTa<;  äireKreive  tov9  iv  ru> 
avvehpiw).  Whether  the  Trofra?  here  is  to  be  understood 
quite  literally  may  be  left  an  open  question.  For,  according 
to  another  passage,  Herod  is  represented  as  having  ordered 
the  forty-five  most  prominent  personages  belonging  to  the 
party  of  Antigonus  to  be  put  to  death  {Antt.  xv.  1.  2 : 
äireKreive  Be  reacrapÜKOvra  irevre  tou«?  irpcorovi  e/c  rfjf 
atpe(T€o)<i  AvTLjovov).  In  any  case  the  object  of  this  pro- 
ceeding was  either  to  get  rid  entirely  of  the  old  nobility,  who 
had  been  somewhat  hostile  to  his  claims,  or  at  all  events  so 
to  intimidate  them  as  to  ensure  their  acquiescence  in  the  rule 
of  the  new  sovereign.  It  was  of  those  then  that  were  dis- 
posed to  be  tractable — among  whom  also  were  a  good  many 
Pharisees,  who  saw  in  Herod's  despotic  sway  a  well-merited 

seldom  however  that  it  is  used  to  denote  civic  councils,  which  as  eveiy  one 
knows  are  mostly  designated  by  the  terms  /3öt/?i^  and  yipovaix.  It  is  more 
frequently  employed  to  denote  representative  assemblies,  composed  of 
deputies  from  various  constituencies.  And  so  we  have,  for  example,  the 
avjiOfiiov  of  the  Phoenicians  which  was  usually  convened  in  Tripolis  (Diodor. 
xvi.  41),  the  koivov  awthpiov  of  ancient  Lycia,  which  was  composed  of 
representatives  from  twenty-three  different  towns  (Strabo,  xiv.  3.  3,  p. 
664  f.),  and  the  awilpiov  koivov  of  the  province  of  Asia  (Aristides,  Orat. 
xxvi.,  ed.  Dindorf,  vol.  i.  p.  531).  Hence  it  Is  too  that  avvioprji  and 
ßovTiivTXi  are  mentioned  separately  as  constituting  two  different  orders  of 
officials  (see  inscription  at  Balbura  in  Pisidia  as  given  in  Le  Bas  et  Wad- 
dington's  Liscr.  vol.  iii.  n.  1221).  Moreover,  the  senatores  of  the  four 
Älacedonian  districts,  who,  according  to  Livy,  were  called  tjvi/ilpoi  (Liv. 
xiv.  32  :  pronuntiatum,  quod  ad  statum  Macedoniae  pertinebat,  senatores, 
quos  synedros  vocant,  legendos  esse,  quorum  consilio  respublica  administra- 
retur),  were  not  municipal  councillors,  but  deputies  representing  an  entire 
j-eglo  (see  Marquardt's  Staatsveru-altung,  i.  [1881]  p.  317).  Now  as  the 
terra  in  question  was  first  heard  of  in  Judaea  in  the  time  of  Gabinius,  and 
was  thereafter  currently  applied  to  the  council  of  Jerusalem  as  well,  one 
might  be  inclined  to  suppose  that  it  had  been  introduced  in  this  quarter 
in  connection  with  the  Gabiüiau  measures  of  reform,  and  that  its  use  was 
still  retained  even  after  a  new  order  of  things  had  been  established  (as  I 
have  myself  held,  Riehra's  Wörtcrh.  p.  1596).  But  in  presence  of  the 
fact,  that  elsewhere  too,  even  in  Hebrew  itself,  the  term  is  generally  used 
in  the  sense  of  a  ''court  of  justice,"  this  explanation,  I  fear,  must  be 
abandoned  as  more  ingenious  than  otherwise. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTIOX.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  l7l 

judgment  of  heaven — that  the  new  Sanhedrim  was  now  com- 
posed. For  there  is  express  evidence  that  such  an  institution 
existed  in  the  time  of  Herod  also,  inasmuch  as  one  can  hardly 
understand  that  the  "assembly  "  (crvveSpiov)  before  which  this 
monarch  successfully  prosecuted  his  charge  against  the  aged 
Hyrcanus  could  be  taken  as  referring  to  any  other  court  than 
our  Sanhedrim  (Antt.  xv.  6.  2,  fin.).'^^'' 

After  Herod's  death  Archelaus  obtained  only  a  portion  of 
his  father's  kingdom,  viz.  the  provinces  of  Judaea  and  Samaria. 
Kor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that,  in  consequence  of  this,  tlie 
jurisdiction  of  the  Sanhedrim  was  at  the  same  time  restricted 
to  Judaea  proper  (comp,  above,  p.  142).  This  continued  to 
be  the  state  of  matters  in  the  time  of  the  inocurators  as  well. 
But,  under  their  administration,  the  internal  government  of 
the  country  was  to  a  greater  extent  in  tlie  hands  of  the 
Sanhedrim  than  it  had  been  during  the  reign  of  Herod  and 
Archelaus.  Josephus  distinctly  intimates  as  much  when  he 
informs  us  that,  ever  since  the  death  of  Herod  and  Archelaus, 
the  form  of  government  was  that  of  an  aristocracy  under  the 
supreme  direction  of  the  high  priests.*^^  And  accordingly  he 
regards  the  aristocratic  council  of  Jerusalem  as  being  now  the 
true  governing  body  in  contradistinction  to  the  previous 
monarchical  rule  of  the  Idumaean  princes.  So  too  in  the 
time  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  the  crvveSpiov  at  Jerusalem 
is  frequently  mentioned  as  being  the  supreme  Jewish 
court,  above  all,  as  being  the  supreme  Jewish  court 
of  justice  (Matt.  v.  22,  xxvi.  59  ;  Mark  xiv.  55,  xv.  1  ; 
Luke  xxii.  66  ;  John  xi.  47  ;  Acts  iv.  15,  v.  21  ff.,  vi.  12  ff., 
xxii.  30,  xxiii.  1  ff.,  xxiv.  20).      Sometimes  again  the  terms 

**-  Comp,  besides,  Wieseler's  Beilrüge  zur  richtigen  Würdigung  der 
Evangelien,  p.  215  f. 

**'  Antt.  XX.  10,  fin.  :  y,iTx  ö;  rriv  tovtuv  Tt'hiurii»  xpirT'jKpxTi'ec  fiiv  v,u  ^ 
"T^of^mix,  T^v  "hi  'TrpooTxaixv  tov  'iduav^  oi  xp^^iep-i;  tTiTriaTivvTb.  Now.  as 
throughout  the  whole  section  it  is  high  priests  strictly  so  called  that  are  in 
view  (and  of  wliom  only  one  was  iu  office  at  a  time),  it  follows  that  the 
word  xpxiipi'is  is  to  be  taken  as  the  categorical  i)lural,  so  that  tlie  meaning 
would  be  :  the  -pooTxaix  rov  'iduoui  was  in  the  hands  of  the  high  priest  for 
the  time  beinir. 


172  §  2.3.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

irpecrßvTepiov  (Luke  xxii.  66  ;  Acts  xxii.  5)  and  yepovaia 
(Acts  V.  21)  are  substituted  for  cwehptov!^^^  A  member  of  this 
court,  viz.  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  is  described  in  Mark  xv.  43, 
Luke  xxiii.  50,  as  a  ßovXevTijf.  Josephus  calls  the  supreme 
court  of  Jerusalem  a  aweSpiov  '^^^  or  a  ßovXrj,^^^  or  he  compre- 
hends the  court  and  people  under  the  common  designation 
of  TO  Koivov}^''  While  in  the  Mishna  again  the  supreme 
court  of  justice  is  called  ^inan  p^  iTa*«»  or  .\^ita  Plv'?'?,'^^  like- 
wise ins;  n^vy^  ^^  riir"?!?,*'^  or  merely  PIC?'?-'^^^''  There  can 
be  no  question  that,  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
year  70  A.D.,  the  Sanhedrim  was  abolished,  so  far  at  least  as 
its  existing  form  was  concerned.  The  comparatively  large 
amount  of  self-government  that  had  hitherto  been  granted  to 
the  Jewish  people  could  no  longer  be  conceded  to  them  after 

^^*  A  singular  feature  about  the  last-mentioned  passage  (Acts  v.  21)  is  the 
use  of  such  a  form  of  designation  as :  to  awihpiov  >cxl  Trxa-xv  rviv  yip(,v<jlxv 
tZiv  vluv  ^iGpa.ri'h.  Now,  seeing  that  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the 
identity  of  the  two  conceptions  avt/soptov  and  yspovat'ot,  only  one  or  other  of 
two  things  is  possible,  either  the  k»i  is  to  be  taken  as  explanatory,  or  we 
must  assume  that  the  author  of  the  Acts  erroneously  supposed  that  the 
ovvelpiou  was  of  a  less  comprehensive  character  than  the  yipovalx  ("  the 
Sanhedrim  and  all  the  elders  of  the  people  together").  The  latter  is  the 
more  natural  alternative. 

•*^^  Thus,  in  addilion  to  the  passages  already  mentioned  {Anit.  xiv.  9. 
3-5,  XV.  6.  2,  fin.),  we  might  refer  further  to  Antt.  xx.  9.  1 ;  Vita,  12,  the 
terms  of  the  latter  passage  being:  ro  awthpiov  ruv  'lipoao'hv^iTuy.  It 
may  be  questioned  whether  it  is  also  the  supreme  Sanhedrim  that  is 
intended  in  Antt.  xx.  9.  6  ;  comp.  Wieseler's  Beiträge,  p.  217. 

•*^^  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  15.  6  :  rttli  ts  upxupih  ««'  t^i/  ßovT^'/iv.  Bell.  Jud.  ii. 
16.  2  :  'lov^otiuv  01  rs  dpxtipi^S  ä/xec  rolg  'hvudTcTig  x,ot,i  ij  /BijyX^;  Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  17.  1.  o'l  Tr  äpxouTis  iccil  01  ßov'KiVTcti.  Comp.  Antt.  XX.  1.  2;  Bell. 
Jud.  V.  13.  1.  The  place  of  meeting  is  called  ßov'hvt  in  Bell.  Jud.  v.  4.  2, 
and  ßov'hivrfipiov  in  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  6.  3. 

*67  Vita,  12,  13,  38,  49,  52,  60,  65,  70. 

^^^  Sota  i.  4,  ix.  1  ;  Gittin  vi.  7  ;  Sanhcdrin  xi.  2.  4  ;  Horajath  i.  5,  ßa. 
In  most  of  the  passages  the  expression  D\^ü'1~1^3Ci'  is  added. 

^69  Sanhedrin  i.  6  ;  Middoth  v.  4  Just  as  the  term  pmnjD  is  borrowed 
from  the  Greek,  so  on  the  Palmyra  inscriptions  we  find  the  words  K?13 

4^0  Shebuoth  ii.  2. 

^'Oa  g^Jl^J^  ix.  11  .  Kiddushin  iv.  5  ;  Sanlicdrin  iv.  3  The  term  pmnjD 
(in  a  variety  of  senses)  is  also  of  frequent  occurrence,  especially  in  the  later 
Targums.     See  Buxtorf 's  Lex.  col.  1513  f.  Levy's  Chald.  Wörterh.  under  word. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  173 

such  <i  serious  rebelliou  as  had  taken  place.  Hitherto,  apart 
from  the  short  episode  in  the  time  of  Gabinius,  the  Ifoman 
system  of  provincial  government  had  not  been  strictly  carried 
out  in  Judaea  (see  above,  §  17^),  but  now  that  Palestine 
was  reduced  to  the  position  of  a  dependent  Eoman  province, 
it  was  no  longer  exempted  from  the  ordinary  system  of  Eoman 
provincial  administration.''^^  From  all  this  it  followed,  as 
matter  of  course,  that  a  Jewish  council,  invested  with  such 
extensive  powers  as  this  one  had  hitherto  exercised,  could  not 
possibly  continue  any  longer.  It  is  true,  no  doubt,  that  the 
Jewish  people  lost  no  time  in  again  creating  for  themselves 
a  new  centre  in  the  so-called  court  of  justice  (H  ^'?)  at 
Jabne.^'^  But  this  court  was  something  essentially  dilferent 
from  the  old  Sanhedrim,  inasmuch  as  it  was  not  a  legislative 
body,  but  a  judicial  tribunal,  the  decisions  of  which  had  at 
first  nothing  more  than  a  merely  theoretical  importance. 
And  although  this  court  also  came  ere  long  to  acquire  great 
power  over  the  Jewish  people  through  exercising  over  them  a 
real  jurisdiction  that  was  partly  conceded  and  partly 
usurped,^'^  still  Eabbinical  Judaism  has  evidently  never  been 
able  to  get  rid  of  the  feeling  that  the  old  "  Sanhedrim  "  had 
now  become  a  thing  of  the  past.'*^'* 

•*''i  For  the  separation  of  Palestine  from  Syria  and  its  elevation  to  the 
rank  of  an  independent  province,  consult  Kuhn,  Die  städt.  n.  hiirf/erl.  Vcrf. 
ii.  183  f.     Marquardt's  StaahvcrwultaiKj,  i.  (2nd  ed.  1881)  p.  419  ff. 

■•'^  On  this  court  at  Jabne,  see  especially  R<ish  hashana  ii.  8,  9,  iv.  1,  2. 
Sanhedrin  xi.  4  ;  also  Bechoroth  iv.  5,  vi.  8  ;  Kelim  v.  4  ;  Para  vii.  ü.  At 
a  later  period  (in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries)  this  centre  of  Rabbinical 
Judaism  was  located  at  Tiberias. 

■»'3  Origcu,  Epist.  ad  Africanum,  sec.  xiv.  (0pp.  ed.  Lommatzsch,  vol. 
xvii.)  :  K.xl  vvu  yovv  VufixUiv  ßxTiyifvovray  kccI  ^Iovoxiudto  oioox'^cufiv  xvtoi; 
Ti'Kwuruv.i  '6(TX  (tvyx,up'jVVTOi  Kcctascpo;  6  idvecp-^yi;  'Trctp'  xvroi;  Ouhxtxi,  u; 
f/cr)hiu    öixipipsiv    ßxrTtÄiVoi/ro;    rov  eövov;,    i'afcsv   oi    'TZiTitpxyAuot.      ViviTXi  3e 

zm  6xv»ru,  ovTi  fAtrx.  t^j  t«i/t)7  tt;  touto  Trxppmixc,  ovn  furx  tw  yxvdx~ 
ifStv  rov  ßxaty.ivovrx.  Kesi  toDto  in  t»5  x'^Pf  '''<'''  ^^"O"?  "f^oy^vv  Oixrot\l/Xuris 
Xpövov  y,iy,x6tjy.xuiv  Kxl  'TTiv'Kyipoipopijf/.idx. 

*^*  Sota  ix.  11  :  '■^  Ever  since  the  ,Satdiedrim  was  extinguished  (r\^]22\l'ü 
P"»in3D)  there  has  been  no  such  thin<>:  as  singing  at  the  festive  lioard,  for 
it  is  written  in  Isa.  xxiv.  ü  :  '  They  shall  not  drink  wine  with  a  song,'"  eta 


174  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

2.  Its  composition.  In  accordance  with  the  analogy  of  the 
later  Eabbinical  courts  of  justice,  Jewish  tradition  conceives  ot 
the  supreme  Sanhedrim  as  having  been  merely  a  collegiate  body 
composed  of  scribes.  This  is  what,  down  to  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  it  certainly  never  was.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  certain,  from  the  concurrent  testimony  of 
Josephus  and  the  N"ew  Testament,  that,  till  the  very  last,  the 
head  of  the  sacerdotal  aristocracy  continued  to  preside  over 
the  Sanhedrim.  And  so  we  see  that  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  time  had  not  been  able  to  efface  that  original  fundamental 
character  of  this  court  in  virtue  of  which  it  was  to  be  regarded 
not  as  an  association  of  learned  men,  but  as  a  body  representative 
of  the  nobility.  But,  of  course,  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  the  power  of  Pharisaism  should  continue  to  grow  as  it  did 
without  ultimately  exerting  some  influence  upon  the  compo- 
sition of  the  Sanhedrim.  The  more  the  Pharisees  grew  in 
importance  the  more  did  the  priestly  aristocracy  become  con- 
vinced that  they  too  would  have  to  be  allowed  to  have  their 
representatives  in  the  Sanhedrim.  The  first  step  in  this 
direction  would  probably  be  taken  some  time  during  the  reign 
of  Alexandra,  and  the  matter  would  doubtless  receive  no 
inconsiderable  impetus  in  the  time  of  Herod.  For  this 
monarch's  high-handed  treatment  of  the  old  nobility  could  not 
possibly  have  failed  to  promote  the  interests  of  Pharisaism. 
The  Sanhedrim  of  the  Eoraan  period  then  would  thus  seem 
to  have  been  made  up  of  two  factors :  that  of  the  priestly 
nobility,  with  its  Sadducaean  sympathies  on  the  one  hand, 
and  that  of  the  Pharisaic  doctors  on  the  other.  It  is  moreover 
in  the  light  of  this  fact  that  the  various  matters  recorded  in 
tlie  traditions  will  require  to  be  viewed.  According  to  the 
Mishna  the  number  of  members  amounted  to  seventy-one, 
clearly  taking  as  its  model  the  council  of  elders  in  the  time 
of  Moses    (Num.   xi.    16).'*^^      From  the   two   statements  of 

^'■^  Sankedrin  i.  6:  ''The  supreme  Sanhedrim  consisted  of  seventy-one 
members."  " The  Sanhedrim  of  seventy-one"  is  also  mentioned  in  Sheboth 
i.  2.     In  several  other  passages  we  read  of  seventy-two  elders  (Sebachim 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  175 

Josephus,  the  one  in  Aoiit.  xiv.  9.  4  (where  we  are  told  tliat 
Herod,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  put  to  death  all  the 
members  of  the  Sanhedrim),  and  the  other  in  Antt.  xv.  1.  2 
(where  again  we  are  informed  tliat  he  put  to  death  tlie  forty- 
five  most  prominent  members  of  the  party  of  Antigonus),  one 
might  be  disposed  to  infer  that  the  numl)er  of  members  was 
forty-five.  But  the  iravra^  in  the  first  of  those  statements  is 
assuredly  not  intended  to  be  taken  literally.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  have  a  great  deal  that  tends  to  bear  out  the  view 
that  the  number  of  members  amounted  to  seventy-one. 
When  Josephus  was  planning  the  rising  in  Galilee  he 
appointed  seventy  elders  to  take  charge  of  the  administration 
of  this  province.*'^  In  like  manner  the  zealots  in  Jerusalem, 
after  suppressing  the  existing  authorities,  established  a 
tribunal  composed  of  seventy  members.^'^  This  then  would 
seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  the  normal  number  of  members 
required  to  constitute  a  supreme  court  of  justice  among  the 
Jews.  Consequently  the  traditions  of  the  Mishna  too  are  in 
themselves  perfectly   probable.     As   to   the   mode   in    whicli 

i.  3  ;  Jadajhn  iii.  5,  iv.  2).  But,  as  a  rule,  these  are  foreign  to  the  matter 
in  hand.  (In  all  the  three  passages  last  referred  to  R.  Simon  ben  Asai 
appeals  to  traditions,  which  he  professes  to  have  received  "from  the  mouth 
of  the  seventy-two  elders  on  the  day  on  which  they  ordained  W.  Eleasar 
ben  Asariah  as  head  of  the  school."  Here  then  the  matter  in  view  is  not 
the  supreme  Sanhedrim,  but  the  academy  of  Jewish  scholars  in  the  second 
century  of  our  era.  Comp,  besides,  Seiden,  De  synedrüs,  ii.  4.  10.)  Just 
as  little  have  we  to  do  here  with  the  supposed  seventy-two  translators  of 
the  Old  Testament  (six  from  each  of  the  twelve  tribes)  ;  see  Psendo- 
Aristeas,  ed.  M.  Schmidt  in  Merx's  Archiv,  i.  262  f. 

■''''  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  5.  When  Kuenen  (Verslar/en  en  Medcdi dingen,  x. 
161)  seeks  to  invalidate  tho  appeal  to  this  passage  by  pointing  to  the  dis- 
crepancy between  it  and  what  is  said  in  Vita,  14,  he  may  be  met  with  the 
reply  that  this  latter  passage  has  been  purposely  tampered  with.  The  fact 
of  Josephus  having  nryanized  the  rising  in  Galilee  through  the  appointment 
of  the  seventy  elders,  has  been  so  distorted  in  Vita,  14,  as  to  make  it 
appear  that,  under  the  pretext  of  friendship,  he  took  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  Galilaeans  "  to  the  number  of  somewhere  about  seventy  ''  and  kept 
them  as  hostages,  and  allowed  the  judgments  lie  pronounced  to  be  regulated 
by  their  decisions. 

*'^  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  5.  4.  Comp,  in  general,  Hody,  De  btblioriim  tcxtihis 
originulibus,  pp.  126-128. 


176  23.    CONSTITUTION,       III,    SANHEDRIM. 

vacancies  were  filled  up  we  know  in  reality  absolutely 
nothing.  But,  judging  from  the  aristocratic  character  of  this 
body,  we  may  venture  to  presume  that  there  was  not  a 
new  set  of  members  every  year,  and  those  elected  by  the 
voice  of  the  people,  as  in  the  case  of  the  democratic  councils  in 
the  Hellenistic  communes,  but  that  they  held  office  for  a  longer 
period,  nay  perhaps  for  life,  and  that  new  members  were  ap- 
pointed either  by  the  existing  members  themselves  or  by  the 
supreme  political  authorities  (Herod  and  the  Eomans).  The 
supplying  of  vacancies  through  co-optation  is  also  presupposed 
in  the  Mishna,  in  so  far  as,  after  its  own  peculiar  way  no  doubt, 
it  regards  the  amount  of  Rabbinical  learning  possessed  by  the 
candidate  as  the  sole  test  of  his  eligibility.^^®  In  any  case  we 
may  well  believe  that  the  one  requirement  of  legal  Judaism, 
that  none  but  Israelites  of  pure  blood  should  be  eligible 
for  the  office  of  judge  in  a  criminal  court,  would  also  be 
insisted  on  in  the  case  of  the  supreme  Sanhedrim,*'®  New 
members  were  formally  admitted  to  take  their  seats  through 

^''^  SanJiedrin  iv.  4:  "  In  front  of  them  sat  three  rows  of  learned  disciples 
(Q''?r3n  "'T'D/n);  each  of  them  had  his  own  special  place.  Should  it  be 
necessary  to  promote  one  of  them  to  the  office  of  judge,  one  of  those  in  the 
foremost  row  was  selected.  His  place  was  then  supplied  by  one  from  the 
second  row,  while  one  from  the  third  was  in  turn  advanced  to  the  second. 
This  being  done,  some  one  was  then  chosen  from  the  congregation  to 
supply  the  vacancy  thus  created  in  the  third  row.  But  the  person  so 
appointed  did  not  step  directly  into  the  place  occupied  by  the  one  last 
promoted  from  the  third  row,  but  into  the  place  that  beseemed  one  who 
was  only  newly  admitted." 

*'^  That  the  Sanhedrim  was  composed  exclusively  of  Jews  is  simply  a 
matter  of  course.  But  the  Mishna  specially  insists  on  evidence  of  pure 
blood  in  the  case  of  the  criminal  fudge.  SanJiedrin  iv.  2 :  "  Any  one  is  quali- 
fied to  act  as  a  judge  in  civil  causes.  But  none  were  competent  to  deal  with 
criminal  cases  but  priests,  Levites,  and  Israelites  whose  daughters  it  would  he 
laivful  for  priests  to  marry ''^  (i.e.  those  who  can  furnish  documentary  evi- 
dence of  their  legitimate  Israelitish  origin,  Derenbourg,  p.  453  :  les  Israelites 
pourvus  des  conditions  necessaires  pour  contracter  mariage  avec  le  sacerdoce, 
not  as  Geiger,  Urschrift,  p.  114,  erroneously  renders  it:  those  who  have 
become  allied  by  marriage  to  the  stock  of  the  priesthood).  From  this 
then  it  would  appear  that  the  Mishna  presupposes  that,  in  the  case  of 
every  member  of  the  Sanhedrim,  his  legitimate  Israelitish  descent  is  an 
admitted  fact  requiring  no  further  confirmation  {Kiddushin  iv.  5).  As  this 
is  a  point  in  which  the  tendencies  of  the  priesthood  and  Pharisaism  coin- 


§  23.    COXSTITUTIOX.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  177 

the  ceremony  of  the  laying  on  of  hands  (nD"'Op).^s''  With 
regard  to  the  different  orders  to  which  the  members  of  the 
Sanhedrim  belonged  we  have  trustworthy  information  on 
that  point  in  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  Josephus.  Both  authorities  are  agi'eed  in  this,  that 
the  ap^iepeU  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word  were  the  leading 
personages  among  them.  In  almost  every  instance  in  which 
the  New  Testament  enumerates  the  different  orders  we  find 
that  the  ap^iepeU  are  mentioned  first.*^^  Sometimes  ol 
ap^ovT€<i  is  substituted  for  this  latter  as  being  an  inter- 
changeable expression/^^     This  is  also  the  case  in  Josephus, 

cided,  it  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  probable  that  it  was  also  given  effect  to  in 
jjractice. 

*^'^  The  verb  tjoD  (to  lay  on  the  hands)  is  already  to  be  met  with  in  the 
Mishna  in  the  sense  of  to  install  any  one  as  a  judge  (Sanhedrin  iv.  4).  This 
ceremony  is  therefore,  comparatively  speaking,  a  very  ancient  one,  seeing 
that  it  was  also  observed  at  a  very  early  period  in  the  Christian  Church. 
Of  course  the  act  of  laying  on  of  the  hands  was  not  to  be  understood  as 
conferring  any  special  charisma,  but  (as  in  the  case  of  the  victim  in  the 
Old  Testament)  as  indicating  that  something  was  being  transferred  to  the 
individual  in  question,  that  an  office,  a  place  of  authority,  was  being  com- 
mitted to  him  on  the  part  of  the  person  by  whom  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed. On  the  later  Rabbinical  nS^DD,  see  Buxtorf's  Lex.  Chald.  col. 
1498  f.  Seiden,  De  synedriis,  ii.  7.  Vitringa,  De  synagoga  vetere,  p.  836  ff. 
Carpzov's  Apparatus,  p.  577  f.  Jo.  Chrph.  Wolf,  Curae  pliilol.  in  Nov. 
Test.,  note  on  Acts  vi.  6,  and  the  literature  quoted  there  (being  in  general 
expositors'  notes  on  Acts  vi.  6).  Hamburger,  Real-Encycl.  für  Bibel  und 
Talmud,  part  ii.  art.  "  Ordinirung." 

*^^  The  following  are  the  formulae  that  are  to  be  met  with  : — I.  dpxnpsJs, 
ypxf^f<.»Ttt;  and  Trptaßvnpoi  (or  with  the  two  latter  in  reverse  order),  Matt, 
xxviii.  41  ;  Mark  xi.  27,  xiv.  43,  53,  xv.  1. — II.  äp^tepst;  and  ypxf^fixni;, 
Matt.  ii.  4,  xx.  18,  xxi.  15 ;  Mark  x.  33,  xi.  18,  xiv.  1,  xv.  31 ;  Luke  xxii. 
2,  66,  xxiii.  10. — III.  üpx'spsi;  and  -Trpiaßvnpoi,  Matt.  xxi.  23,  xxvi.  3,  47, 
xxvii.  1,  3,  12,  20,  xxviii.  11,  12;  Acts  iv.  23,  xxiii.  14,  xxv.  15.— IV.  oj 
ccpxupu;  Keel  to  avvihptov  oMv,  Matt.  xxvi.  59  ;  Mark  xiv.  55  ;  Acts  xxii.  30. 
As  a  rule  then,  the  »pxispsis  occupy  the  foremost  place.  The  instances  in 
which  they  are  not  mentioned  first  (Matt.  xvi.  21 ;  Mark  via.  31 ;  Luke 
ix.  22,  XX.  19),  or  are  omitted  altogether  (Matt.  xxvi.  57  ;  Ac^s  vi.  12),  are 
extremely  rare. 

*^'  See  in  particular.  Acts  ix.  5  and  8  (öipxos'Ti;,  z-pia^i^ipot  and 
-/pottcfAXTÜg)  compared  with  iv.  23  {dp-^np^U  and  -^piaßvTipoi).  Of  course 
there  are  a  couple  of  instances  in  which  both  o/  »px,iipiis  kxI  oi  dipx'Jtmt 
occur  together  (Luke  xxiii.  13,  xxiv.  20). 

DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  M 


178  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

above  all,  who  designates  the  supreme  authorities  in  Jeru- 
salem cither  by  conjoining  the  ap'x^iepei'i  with  the  Bwarot^^ 
the  yvoopifioi';  and  the  ßovX^,'^^^  or  by  substituting  ap^ovTe<i 
for  dp)(iepec<>,'^^^  but  never  by  coupling  the  two  together  at  the 
same  time.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ap^cepet'i  often  stand 
alone  as  being  the  leading  personages  in  the  Sanhedrim.^^^ 
And  however  difficult  it  may  now  be  further  to  determine 
the  exact  significance  of  this  term  (on  this  see  below,  under 
No.  iv.),  there  can,  at  all  events,  be  no  doubt  whatever  that 
it  is  the  most  prominent  representatives  of  the  priesthood 
that  are  here  in  view.  We  are  tlierefore  to  understand  that 
it  was  always  this  class  that  played  a  leading  part  in  the 
conduct  of  affiiirs.  But  it  is  certain  that,  along  with  them, 
the  ypafjLfMarel'i,  the  professional  lawyers,  also  exercised  con- 
siderable influence  in  the  Sanhedrim.  Such  other  members 
as  did  not  belong  to  one  or  other  of  the  two  special  classes 
just  referred  to  were  known  simply  as  irpeaßvTepoi,  under 
which  general  designation  both  priests  and  laymen  alike 
might  be  included  (for  the  two  categories  in  question,  see  the 
passages  in  the  New  Testament  quoted  in  note  481).  Now, 
as  the  ap'^cepeU  belonged  chiefly  if  not  exclusively  to  the 
party  of  the  Sadducees,  while  the  'ypafx/iaT€i<;,  on  the  other 
hand,  adhered  not  less  strongly  to  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees,^^^ 
it  follows  from  all  that  we  have  just  been  saying  that  Saddu- 
cees and  Pharisees  alike  had  seats  in  the  Sanhedrim  (especially 
during   the   Eomano-Herodian   period   with   regard  to  which 

^^^  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  14.  8:  o'i  ts  dp^npil^  kxI  ovi/arol  to  n  "/vupif^u-otToy 
rvi;  -TTohioK.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  15.  2  :  oi  Ovi/oirol  avu  roig  »px^P-^ai.  Bell.  Jud. 
ii.  15.  3  :  rove  re  eipxi-p-^i  c^'i'  to7;  yvapi^oi^.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  15.  6:  toi^j  ts 
ccp'Xiisp  ilg  Kul  rviv  ßov'hyiu.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  16.  2:  o7  ti  dpx'ip-^S  oificc  zoi; 
Ivuxrol;  Kxi  ij  ßovT'.'/j.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  2:  ruv  ts  ecpx'-pi^"  *««'  tw» 
•■/•jo)pif/.oiv.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  o  :  oi  ovvxroi  tois  dpy^apivaiv  x,xl  rolg  tuu 
il^ccptaxiuv  yuapi/aotg.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  5:  oi  'hvvoirol  ai/u  rotg  »pxupiiai- 
Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  6  :  ruu  tvjxruv  koÜ  tuv  « jO ;)(; /  s p e  «  j/. 

^^*  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  16.  1 :  oi  -ruv  '  \ip(juohv(/.uv  eLpx^vTig.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  1: 
o'i  n  öipxofTs;  Kxl  oi  ßovf\ivTxi.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  1  :  rovg  äp)^ovrxi  «,^4« 
Tol;  ^vvetTOit:.     Bell.  Jud.  ii.  21.  7:   oi  ^vjxtoI  kxI   tZiu  xpxövruu  riuig 

*85  For  example,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  15.  3,  4,  IG.  3,  v.  1.  5,  vi.  9.  3. 

**«  Acts  V.  17.     Joscpli.  Antt.  XX.  0.  1. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDEIM.  l79 

alone  can  we  be  said  to  have  any  precise  information).  This 
is  further  corroborated  by  the  express  testimony  of  the  New 
Testament  and  Josephus.^^'  During  the  period  in  question 
the  greatest  amount  of  influence  was  already  practically  in 
the  hands  of  the  Pharisees,  with  whose  demands  the  Sadducees 
were  obliged,  however  reluctantly,  to  comply,  "  as  otherwise 
the  people  would  not  have  tolerated  them."  *^^  This  remark 
of  Josephus  gives  us  a  deep  insight  into  the  actual  position 
of  matters,  from  which  it  would  seem,  that  though  formally 
under  the  leadership  of  the  Sadducaean  high  priests,  the  San- 
hedrim was  by  this  time  'practically  under  the  predominant 
influence  of  Pharisaisra.*^^ 

There  is  a  casual  notice  in  Josephus  which  may  perhaps 
be  taken  as  pointing  to  the  existence  of  an  arrangement 
peculiar  to  the  Hellenistico-Ptoman  period.  On  one  occasion 
when  certain  differences  had  arisen  between  the  Jewish 
authorities  and  Festus  the  procurator  about  some  alteration 
in  the  temple  buildings,  it  appears  that,  with  tlie  concurrence 
of  Festus,  the  Jews  sent  "  the  ten  foremost  persons  among 
them  and  the  high  priest  Ismael  and  the  treasurer  Helkias  " 
as  a  deputation  to  Nero  {Antt.  xx.  8.  11  :  Tov<i  irpcoTov^  BeKa 
KOi  ^lafidrjXov  rbv  ap^iepea  Kal  'EXuiav  tov  'ya^o(pvXaKa). 
Now,  if  by  the  Trpwroc  BeKa  liere  we  are  to  understand  not 
merely  the  ten  most  distinguished  persons  generally,  but  men 
holding  a  specific  official  position,  then  we  are  bound  to 
assume  that  they  were  no  other  than  the  committer  consisting 

*87  The  Sadducees,  Acts  iv.  1  ff.,  v.  17,  xxiii.  6;  Joseph.  Antt.  x.\.  0.  1. 
The  Pharisees,  Acts  v.  34,  xxiii.  6.  Comp.  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  3; 
Vita,  38,  39. 

■*88  jlritt.  xviii.  1.  4:  oVoVs  y«/>  Icr'  cipx,ei:  Trupi'kdotii/,  ukovuiu;  f<.iv  kuI 
kut'  ecvdiyKX;,  -Trpoay^upovat  V  oiiv  oi;  6  <l^ccpt(TXio;  Xsys/,   3/a  to  /avi   Siv   cc>k7.u; 

489  Fi'oai  what  is  here  said  the  combiuation  of  the  ecp^'ip^h  and 
(^xpiauhi,  so  frequently  met  with  in  the  New  Testament  (Matt.  xxi.  45, 
xxvii.  62 ;  John  vii.  32,  45,  xi.  47,  57,  xviii.  3),  is  quite  in  keeping  with 
the  actual  state  of  things.  A  similar  collocation  is  also  to  be  met  with 
in  Josephus,  5eZ/. /«rf.  ii.  17.  3  :  avvi'h66u-s ;  ovv  oi  ^vvxzoi  to??  olppcispsutnu 
ti{  TotvTo  Kxl  TO??  riiv  <]? ot. p I <T X l u V  yvup tftoi;.     Comp,  also,  ]'ita,  38,  39. 


180  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

of  the  heKa  irpwroi  so  often  to  be  met  with  in  the 
Hellenistic  communes,  and  which  can  also  be  clearly  shown 
to  have  had  a  place  for  example  in  the  constitution  estab- 
lished by  Tiberias  (see  above,  note  395).  We  are  thus 
furnished  with  characteristic  evidence  of  the  extent  to 
which  Jewish  and  Hellenistico-Eoman  influences  had  become 
intertwined  with  each  other  in  the  organization  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim at  the  period  in  question. 

As  to  who  it  was  that  acted  as  president  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
this  is  a  question  in  regard  to  which  even  Christian  scholars 
down  to  most  recent  times  and  founding  upon  Jewish  tradi- 
tion, have  entertained  the  most  erroneous  views  conceivable. 
The  later  Jewish  tradition,  which  as  a  rule  regards  the 
Sanhedrim  in  the  light  of  a  mere  college  of  scribes,  expressly 
presupposes  that  the  heads  of  the  Pharisaic  schools  were  also 
the  regular  presidents  of  the  Sanhedrim  as  well.  Those  heads 
of  the  schools  are  enumerated  in  the  Mishna  tractate  Ahoth 
c.  i.,  and  that  with  reference  to  earlier  times,  say  from  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  B.C.  till  about  the  time  of 
Christ,  and  are  mentioned  in  pairs  (see  below,  §  25); 
and  it  is  asserted,  though  not  in  the  tractate  Aboth,  yet  in 
another  passage  in  the  Mishna,  that  the^rs^  of  every  pair 
had  been  Hasi  (^*''^^),  while  the  second  had  been  Ab-heth-din 
(p^  n''3  3N),  i.e.  according  to  later  usage  in  regard  to  those 
titles :  president  and  vice-president  of  the  Sanhedrim,^^*^ 
Further,  the  heads  of  the  schools  that  come  after  the  "  pairs '' 
just  referred  to,  especially  Gamaliel  I.  and  his  son  Simon,  are 
represented  by  the  later  traditions  as  having  been  presidents 

^S"  Chagiga  ii.  2 :  "  Jose  beu  Joeser  affirms  that  there  should  be  no 
layiDg  on  of  hands  in  the  case  of  festival  sacrifices,  while  Jose  ben 
Jochanan  says  that  it  is  quite  permissible.  Josua  ben  Perachja  decided  in 
the  negative,  Nittai  (or  Mattai)  of  Arbela  in  the  affirmative.  Juda  ben 
Tabbai  in  the  negative,  Simon  ben  Schetach  in  the  affirmative.  Schemaja 
in  the  affirmative,  Abtaljon  in  the  negative.  Hillel  and  Menachem  were 
at  one  in  their  opinion ;  when  Menachem  withdrew  and  Schammai  entered, 
Schammai  pronounced  in  the  negative,  Hillel  in  the  affirmative.  Of  those 
men  the  first  of  each  pair  was  always  a  president  and  the  second  a  supreme 

judge  (pn  rr-^  n^as  nn^j  d''3C>i  n'i^'^:  vn  □"jicrs-in)." 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  181 

of  the  Sanhedrim.  In  all  this  however  there  is,  of  course, 
nothing  that  is  of  any  historical  value.*^^  On  the  contrary, 
according  to  the  unanimous  testimony  of  Josephus  and  the 
New  Testament,  it  was  alwa3^s  the  high  priest  that  acted  as 
the  head  and  president  of  the  Sanhedrim.  Speaking  gene- 
rally, we  may  say  that  this  is  only  what  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  nature  of  the  case  itself.  Ever  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Greek  period  the  high  priest  had  uniformly 
acted  as  head  of  the  nation  as  well.  In  like  manner  the 
Asmonaeans  had  also  been  high  priests  and  princes,  nay  even 
kings  at  one  and  the  same  time.  With  regard  to  the  Eoman 
period,  we  have  the  express  testimony  of  Josephus  to  the 
effect  that  the  high  priests  were  also  the  political  heads  of 
the  nation  (Antt.  xx.  10,ß)i.:  Trjv  irpoaraalav  rov  eOvov;  ol 
ap^cepeU  eireirlaTevvro).  In  his  theoretical  descriptions  of 
the  Jewish  constitution  this  historian  invariably  speaks  of  the 
high  priest  as  having  been  the  siii^rcme  judge  (Apmi,  ii.  23: 
the  high  priest  (pvXd^et  tov<;  vcfiov<;,  BiKcicrec  irepl  rwv  afif^ia-ßr}- 
rov/jbivwv,  KoXdaei  tou?  i\,e<y)(devTa<i  kir  ahUtp;  Antt.  iv.  8.  14: 
Moses  is  said  to  have  ordained  that,  if  the  local  courts  were 
unable  to  decide  a  case,  the  parties  were  to  go  to  Jerusalem, 
Ka\  crvvekdövre^  6  re  dp'^iepev^  Kal  6  7rpo(j>7]rr)(;  Kal  ?)  yepovai'a  to 
hoKovv  aTTocpaiveaOcoa-av).  Even  from  what  is  here  stated  we 
are  required  to  assume  that  the  high  priest  acted  the  part  of 
president  in  the  Sanhedrim.  But,  besides  this,  we  have 
testimony  of  the  most  explicit  kind  to  the  same  effect.  In 
a  document  of  so  early  a  date  as  the  national  decree  declaring 
the  combined  office  of  high  priest  and  sovereign  to  be  vested 
by  right  of  inheritance  in  the  family  of  Simon  the  Maccabaean, 
it  was  ordained  that  nobody  was  to  be  allowed  "  to  contradict 
his  (Simon's)  orders,  or  to  convene  an  assembly  in  any  part 

***  Comp.  Kuenen  as  above,  pp.  141-147 ;  my  article  iu  the  Stud.  u. 
Krit.  1872,  pp.  614-619.  AVellliausen's  Pharmier  iiml  S(i(l<liicüer,  pp.  29-43. 
Of  the  works  belonging  to  an  earlier  date  we  would  mention,  in  particular, 
Meuschen,  Nov.  Test,  ex  Talmufk  ilhistratiuii,  p.  1184  f.,  where  tiie  fact  is 
already  recognised  that  the  high  priest  always  acted  as  president  of  the 
Sanhedrim. 


182  §  2.3.    CONSTITUTION,       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

of  the  country  without  his  knowledge  or  consent."  *^^  In 
the  few  instances  in  which  Josephus  mentions  the  sittings  of 
the  Sanhedrim  at  all,  we  invariably  find  that  the  high  priest 
occupied  the  position  of  president.  Thus  in  the  year  47  B.c. 
it  was  Hyrcanus  11.,^^^  and  in  the  year  62  a.D.  it  was 
Ananos  the  younger.*^*  Similarly  in  the  New  Testament,  it  is 
always  the  ap'^iepev'^  that  appears  as  the  presiding  personage 
(Acts  V.  17  ff,  vii.  1,  ix.  1,  2,  xxii.  5,  xxiii.  2,  4,  xxiv.  l).*^'^ 
Wherever  names  are  mentioned  we  find  that  it  is  the  high 
priest  for  the  time  being  that  officiates  as  president.  Thus 
we  have  Caiaphas  in  the  time  of  Christ  (Matt.  xxvi.  3,  57), 
and  Ananias  in  the  time  of  the  Apostle  Paul  (Acts  xxiii.  2, 
xxiv.  1),  both  of  whom,  as  we  learn  from  Josephus,  were  the 
high  priests  actually  in  office  at  the  dates  in  question.  The 
trial  of  Jesus  before  Annas  (John  xviii.)  cannot  be  regarded 
as  in  any  way  disproving  this  view.  For  there  it  was  merely 
a  question  of  private  examination.  As  little  can  we  la}'  any 
stress  on  the  fact  that  Ananos  (or  Annas)  the  younger  is 
represented  as  being  at  the  head  of  affairs  ^^^  in  the  time  of 
the  war,  and  that  long  after  he  had  been  deposed.^^^  For  the 
circumstance  of  his  occupying  that  position  then  was  due  to 
the  fact  of  a  special  decree  of  the  people  having  been  issued 
at  the  time  at  which  the  revolution  broke  out.*^  The  only 
passage  that  might  be  urged  in  opposition  to  our  view  is  Acts 
iv.  6,  where  Annas  (who  was  only  an  ex-high  priest)  is  repre- 
sented as  being  the  president  of  the  Sanhedrim,  But  this 
passage  is  very  much  in  the  same  position  as  the  parallel  one, 
Luke  iii.  2.  In  both  Annas  is  mentioned  before  Caiaphas  in 
such  a  way  as  might  lead  one  to  suppose  that  the  former  was 

*82  1  Mace.  xiv.  44  :  «.VTinnh  rols  v-^i  ecvzov  öndviaofiivoi;  xxl  i7riavaTpi\pxi 
avarpo^pviu  lu  Tfi  ycupix,  ä.'Jiv  cclzuxt. 

^93  Ann.  xiV.  9.  3-5.  ^^*  Anlt.  xx.  9.  1. 

*95  lu  answer  to  the  strange  view  of  Wieseler,  that  the  president  of  the 
Sanhedrim  merely  as  such,  even  though  he  were  not  a  high  priest,  bore  the 
title  of  dpxtip'.v;,  see  Stud.  n.  Krit.  1872,  pp.  623-631. 

*96  Antt.  XX.  9.  1. 

*97  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  3,  22.  1,  iv.  3.  7-5.  2 ;   Vita,  38,  39,  44,  60. 

«8  Bell.  Jud.   ii.  20.  3. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION,       III.    SANHEDRIM.  183 

the  high  priest  actually  in  office,  though  in  point  of  fact  this 
was  certainly  not  the  case.  If  therefore  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  infer  from  Luke  iii.  2  that  Annas  was  still  in  office 
as  high  priest,  as  little  can  we  conclude  from  Acts  iv.  6  that 
he  was  president  of  the  Sanhedrim,  which  would  be  incom- 
patible with  Matt.  xxvi.  57-66.  We  should  prefer  to  explain 
the  matter  by  saying  that,  in  both  cases,  there  is  some 
inaccuracy  about  the  narrative.  That  the  persons  who  are 
mentioned  in  the  Rabbinical  traditions  were  not  presidents  ot 
the  Sanhedrim  is  further  evident  from  the  fact  that,  wherever 
those  same  individuals  happen  to  be  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  or  by  Josephus,  they  always  appear  merely  as 
ordinary  members  of  the  court.  Thus  Shemaiah  (Sameas)  in 
the  time  of  Hyrcanus  11.,^^  Gamaliel  I.  in  the  time  of  the 
apostles  (Acts  v.  34,  comp.  ver.  27),  and  Simon  ben 
Gamaliel  in  the  time  of  the  Jewish  war.®^ 

The  Jewish  tradition  in  question  is  therefore  at  variance 
with  the  whole  of  the  undoubted  historical  facts.  Not  only 
so,  but  it  is  itself  only  of  a  very  late  origin,  and  probably  does 
not  belong  to  so  early  a  period  as  the  age  of  the  Mishna. 
The  one  solitary  passage  in  the  Mishna  in  which  it  occurs 
{Chagiga  ii.  2)  stands  there  in  perfect  isolation.  Everywhere 
else  in  this  work  the  heads  of  the  schools  above  mentioned 
are  spoken  of  simply  as  heads  of  schools  and  nothing  more. 
Consequently  it  is  extremely  probable  that  the  passage  in 
question  did  not  find  its  way  into  the  text  of  the  Mishna  till 
some  subsequent  period.^^  Then  again,  it  may  be  affirmed, 
unless  we  have  been  deceived  on  all  hands,  that  the  titles 
Nasi  and  Ah-heih-din  as  applied  to  the  president  and  vice- 
president  of  the  Sanhedrim  are  foreign  as  yet  to  the  age  of 
the  Mishna.      It  is  true  both  those  terms  are  to  be  met  with 

<99  Autt.  xiv.  9.  3-5. 

^^  Vita,  38,  :!9. 

^^^  Later  interpolations  in  the  text  of  the  Mishna  may  also  be  detected 
elsewhere,  for  example  at  Aboth  \.'1\.  Of  course  the  pas.sagc  C/iagir/d  ii.  2 
already  occurs  in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  and  so  must  be  older  at  least  than 
this  latter. 


184  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.      III.    SANHEDRIM. 

in  this  work.^"^  But  by  Nasi  it  is  always  the  actual  prince 
of  the  nation,  specially  the  Icing,  that  is  meant,  as  indeed,  is 
on  one  occasion  expressly  affirmed,^^''  while  the  Ab-heth-din 
again,  if  we  may  judge  from  its  literal  import,  can  hardly 
have  been  intended  to  mean  anything  else  than  the  president 
of  the  supreme  court  of  justice  (and  therefore  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim). Besides  this  latter  title,  we  sometimes  meet  with  that 
of  Bosh-beth-din,  and  with  precisely  the  same  meaning.^^*  It 
was  not  till  the  post-Mishnic  age  that  the  titles  Nasi  and 
Ab-hdh-din  were,  so  to  speak,  reduced  a  step  by  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  president  and  vice  -  president  respectively .*°^ 
Finally,  the  so-called  ^^^Siö,  wlio,  on  the  strengtli  of  a  few 
passages  in  the  Talmud  is  also  frequently  mentioned  by 
Jewish  and  Christian  scholars  as  having  been  a  special 
functionary  of  the  court,  was  not  so  at  all,  but  simply  the 
most  "  prominent "  of  its  ordinary  members,  i.e.  the  one  who 
was  most  learned  in  the  law.^^ 

As  regards  the  time  of  Christ  it  may  be  held  as  certain, 
from  all  that  has  just  been  said,  that  the  office  of  president 
was  always  occupied  by  the  high  priest  for  the  time  being, 
and  that  too  in  virtue  of  his  being  such. 

3.  Its  jurisdiction.     As   regards  the  area  over  which  the 

502  j^i^3^  Taanith  ii.  1  ;  Nedarim  v.  5  ;  Horajotli  ii.  5-7,  iii.  1-3  and 
elsewhere.      Ji^  n''2  nX)  Taanith  ii.  1 ;  Edujoth  v.  6. 

50S  Horajoth  iii.  3. 

^"*  Rosh  hashana  ii.  7,  iv.  4. 

305  The  first  Rabbinical  president  of  the  Sanhedrim  to  whom  the  title  Nasi 
is  applied  is  R.  Judah,  the  redactor  of  the  Mishna,  at  the  end  of  the  second 
century  of  our  era  {Aboth  ii.  2).  Of  the  Rabbins  tbat  occupied  this  position 
previous  to  R.  Judah,  there  is  not  one  that  is  known  as  yet  under  the 
designation  of  Nasi  (apart  from  Chagiga  ii.  2).  We  may  assume  therefore 
that  the  title  did  not  come  into  use  till  toward  the  close  of  the  Mishnic 
age. 

soGThe  expression  pi  ri''3  b^  X^SIO  occurs  only  once  in  the  Mishna,  HorO' 
joth  1.  4.  In  that  passage  directions  are  given  as  to  what  is  to  be  done  in  the 
event  of  the  court  having  arrived  at  an  erroneous  decision  in  the  absence 
of  the  pi  ri"'3  h^  N^DIO,  i-6-  the  most  distinguished,  most  eminent  member 
of  the  collegium.  For  the  meaning  of  N7S1D,  comp.  Buxtorf's  Lex.  col. 
1729  f.     Levy's  Neuhehr.  Wörterb.  under  word. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  185 

jurisdiction  of  the  supreme  Sanhedrim  extended,  it  lias  been 
already  remarked  above  (p.  142)  that  its  civil  authority  was 
restricted,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  to  the  eleven  toparchies  of 
Judaea  proper.  And  accordingly,  for  this  reason,  it  had  no 
judicial  authority  over  Jesus  Christ  so  long  as  He  remained 
in  Galilee.  It  was  only  as  soon  as  He  entered  Judaea  that  He 
came  directly  under  its  jurisdiction.  In  a  certain  sense,  no 
doubt,  the  Sanhedrim  exercised  such  jurisdiction  over  every 
Jewish  community  in  the  world,  and  in  that  sense  over 
Galilee  as  well.  Its  orders  were  regarded  as  binding  through- 
out the  entire  domain  of  orthodox  Judaism.  It  had  power, 
for  example,  to  issue  warrants  to  the  congregations  (syna- 
gogues) in  Damascus  for  the  apprehension  of  the  Christians  in 
that  quarter  (Acts  ix.  2,  xxii.  5,  xxvi.  12).  At  the  same 
time  however  the  extent  to  which  the  Jewish  communities 
were  willing  to  yield  obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim always  depended  on  how  far  they  were  favourably 
disposed  toward  it.  It  was  only  within  the  limits  of  Judaea 
proper  that  it  exercised  any  direct  authority.  There  could 
not  possibly  be  a  more  erroneous  way  of  defining  the  extent 
of  its  jurisdiction  as  regards  the  kind  of  causes  with  which  it 
was  competent  to  deal  than  to  say  that  it  was  the  spiritual  or 
theological  tribunal  in  contradistinction  to  the  civil  judicatories 
of  the  Romans.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  be  more  correct  to 
say  that  it  formed,  in  contrast  to  the  foreign  authority  of 
itome,  that  supreme  7iativc  court  which  here,  as  almost  every- 
where else,  the  Eomans  had  allowed  to  continue  as  before, 
only  imposing  certain  restrictions  with  regard  to  competency. 
To  this  tribunal  then  belonged  all  those  judicial  matters  and 
all  those  measures  of  an  administrative  character  which  either 
could  not  be  competently  dealt  with  by  the  inferior  local  courts 
or  which  the  Eoman  procurator  had  not  specially  reserved 
for  himself.  The  Sanhedrim  was,  above  all,  the  final  court  of 
appeal  for  questions  connected  with  the  Mosaic  law,  but  not 
in  the  sense  that  it  was  open  to  any  one  to  appeal  to  it 
against  the  decisions  of  the  inferior  courts,  but  rather  in  so  far 


186  §  23.   CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

as  it  was  called  upon  to  intervene  in  every  case  in  wliicli  the 
lower  courts  could  not  agree  as  to  their  judgment.^*"^  And 
when  once  it  had  given  a  decision  in  any  case  the  judges  of 
the  local  courts  were,  on  pain  of  death,  bound  to  acquiesce  in 
it.^"*  In  the  theoretical  speculations  of  the  scribes  we  find 
the  following  specially  laid  down  as  cases  which  are  to  belong 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  supreme  court  of  justice :  "  A  tribe 
(charged  with  idolatry),  or  a  false  prophet,  or  a  high  priest  is 
only  to  be  tried  before  the  court  of  the  seventy- one.  A 
voluntary  war  is  only  to  be  commenced  after  the  decision  of 
the  court  of  the  seventy-one  has  been  given  regarding  it. 
Tliere  is  to  be  no  enlargement  of  the  city  (Jerusalem  or  the 
courts  of  the  temple)  till  after  the  court  of  the  seventy-one 
has  decided  the  matter.  Superior  courts  for  the  tribes  are 
only  to  be  instituted  when  sanctioned  by  the  court  of  the 
seventy- one.  A  town  that  has  been  seduced  into  idolatry  is 
only  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  court  of  the  seventy- on e."***^ 
Accordingly  the  high  priest  might  be  tried  by  the  Sanhe- 
drim,^^" though  the  king,  on  the  other  hand,  was  as  little 
amenable  to  its  authority  as  he  was  at  liberty  to  become  one 
of  its  members.^"  At  the  same  time  it  is  not  difficult  to 
perceive  that  all  the  regulations  just  referred  to  have  the  air 
of  being  of  a  purely  theoretical  character,  that  they  do  not 
represent  the  actual  state  of  things,  but  merely  the  devout 
imaoinations  of  the  Mishnic  doctors.  The  facts  to  be  "leaned 
from  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  are  of  a  somewhat  more 
valuable  character.  "VVe  know,  as  matter  of  fact,  that  Jesus 
appeared  before  the  Sanhedrim  charged  with  blasphemy  (Matt, 
xxvi.  65;  John  xix.  7),  and  that,  before  this  same  tribunal, 
Peter  and  John  were  brought  up  charged  with  being  false 
prophets  and  deceivers  of  the  people  (Acts  iv.  and  v.),  Stephen 

»"^  Amt.  iv.  8.  li^ßn.;  Sanhedrin  xi.  2  (see  the  passage  as  quoted  above, 
p.  142).  ^"^  Sanhedrin  xi.  2. 

^"3  Sanhedrin  i.  5.  Comp.  Sanhedrin  ii.  4 :  ''If  the  king  is  disposed  to 
enter  upon  an  unprovoked  war,  he  is  at  liberty  to  do  so  only  after  the 
decision  of  the  comicil  of  the  seventy-one  has  been  given." 

^^'^  See  also  Sanhedrin  i.  1.  *^^  Sanhedrin  ii.  2. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDKIM.  1S7 

with  being  a  blasphemer    (Acts   vi.   13   ff.),  and  Paul   witli 
being  guilty  of  transgressing  the  Mosaic  law  (xVcts  x.xiii.).^" 

There  is  a  special  interest  attaching  to  the  question  as  to 
how  far  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Sanhedrim  was  limited  by  the 
authority  of  the  Eoman  procurator.*^^  We  accordingly  pro- 
ceed to  observe  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Eoman  system  of  pro- 
vincial government  was  not  strictly  carried  out  in  the  case  of 
Judaea  (see  above,  §  17°),  as  the  simple  fact  of  its  being 
administered  by  means  of  a  procurator  plainly  sliows,  the  San- 
hedrim Avas  still  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  comparatively  high 
degree  of  independence.  Not  only  did  it  exercise  civil  juris- 
diction, and  that  according  to  Jcmish  law  (which  was  only  a 
matter  of  course,  as  otherwise  a  Jewish  court  of  justice  would 
have  been  simply  inconceivable),  but  it  also  enjoyed  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  criminal  jurisdiction  as  well.  It  had  an 
independent  authority  in  regard  to  police  affairs,  and  conse- 
quently possessed  the  right  of  ordering  arrests  to  be  made  by 
its  own  officers  (Matt.  xxvi.  47  ;  Mark  xiv.  43  ;  Acts  iv.  3, 
V.  17,  18).*"     It  had  also  the  power  of  finally  disposing,  on 

^'2  The  series  of  cases  being  the  Siimo  as  in  Winer's  Realworterh.  iL  552. 

*^'  On  this  point,  comp.  Bynaeus,  Dc  morte  Jesu  Christi,  iii.  1.  9-14. 
Deyling,  De  Judaeorum  jure  fjlaJii  tempore  Christi,  adJohn  xviii.  31  (Obscrva- 
tiones  sacrae,  part  iL  1737,  pp.  414-428 ;  also  in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol. 
xxvi.).  Iken,  De  jure  vitae  et  necis  tempore  mortis  Servatoris  apud  Judaeos 
non  amplius  superstite  ad  John  xviii.  31  (in  his  Dissertatt.  philol.-theol.  ii. 
517-572).  A.  Balth.  v.  AValther,  Juristisch-historische  Betrachtuiujcn  ueber 
die  Geschichte  vom  Leiden  und  Sterben  Jesu  Christi,  etc.,  Breslau  1777,  pp. 
142-168  (this  latter  work  I  know  only  through  the  quotation  from  it  iu 
Liicke's  Commtntar  uebcr  das  Er.  Joh.,  ii.  7oG  ;  for  more  of  the  earlier 
literature,  see  Wolf's  Curae  philol.  in  Nov.  Test.,  note  on  John  xviii.  31). 
Winer's  Realwörterb.  ii.  553.  Leyrer  in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  1st  cd.  vol.  xv. 
320-322.  Dbllinger's  Christcnlhum  und  Kirche  in  der  Zeit  der  Grundlegung 
(2nd  ed.  1868),  pp.  456-460.  Lanj^en  in  the  Tub.  Theol.  Quartabchr.  1862, 
pp.  411-463.  On  the  judicial  arrangements  in  the  Roman  provinces 
generally  see  Geib,  Geschichte  des  römischen  Criminalprocesses  (1842), 
pp.  471-486.  Rudorflf,  Römische  Rcchtsgeschichte,  vol.  ii.,  especially  pp.  12 
and  345. 

5'*  According  to  Matt.  xxvi.  47,  Mark  xiv.  43,  it  was  by  the  Jewish  police 
that  Jesus  was  arrested.  It  is  only  iu  the  fourth  Go.-pel  that  it  seems  to  be 
implied  that  it  was  a  lloman  tribune  (officer)  with  Ids  cohort  that  appre- 
hended Jesus  (John  xviii.  3  and  1 2). 


188  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

its  own  authority,  of  such  cases  as  did  not  involve  sentence  of 
death  (Acts  iv.  5-23,  v.  21-40).  It  was  only  in  cases  in 
which  such  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced  that  the  judg- 
ment required  to  be  ratified  by  the  authority  of  the  procurator. 
Not  only  is  this  expressly  affirmed  with  regard  to  the  Jews  in 
the  Gospel  of  John  (xviii,  31  .  rjfiiv  ovk  e^ecmv  airoKTeivai 
ovheva),  but  it  follows  as  matter  of  certainty,  from  the 
account  of  the  condemnation  of  Jesus  as  given  by  the  Synop- 
tists.  Besides,  a  reminiscence  of  this  fact  has  survived  in 
the  Jewish  traditions.^'^  But  it  is  at  the  same  time  a  fact 
worthy  of  note,  that  the  procurator  regulated  his  judgment  in 
accordance  with  Jeivish  law ;  only  on  this  assumption  could 
Pilate  have  pronounced  sentence  of  death  in  the  case  of  Jesus. 
It  is  true  the  procurator  was  not  compelled  to  have  any  regard 
to  Jewish  law  in  the  matter  at  all,  but  still  he  was  at  liberty 
to  do  so,  and  as  a  rule  he  actually  did  so.  There  was  one  special 
offence  in  regard  to  which  the  Jews  had  heen  accorded  the  singu- 
lar privilege  of  proceeding  even  against  Boman  citizens  according 
to  Jewish  law.  For  if  on  any  occasion  one  who  was  not  a 
Jew  happened  to  pass  the  barrier  at  the  temple  in  Jerusalem, 
beyond  which  only  Jews  could  go,  and  thus  intrude  into  the 
inner  court,  he  was  punished  with  death,  and  that  even  though 
he  were  a  Eoman.^'^  Of  course,  even  in  this  latter  case,  it 
was  necessary  that  the  sentence  of  the  Jewish  court  should 
be  confirmed  by  the  Eoman  procurator.     For  we  can  hardly 

5'5  Jer.  Sanliedrin  i.  1  (fol.  18^^)  and  vii.  2  (fol.  24b)  :  «The  right  of  pro- 
nouncing sentences  of  hfe  or  death  was  taken  from  Israel  (""jn  1^t3''3 
1'{<"1C'"'D  mtJ'DJ)  forty  years  before  the  destruction  of  the  temple."  The 
date  of  the  withdrawal  here  given  is,  of  course,  worthless,  for  it  may  be 
assumed  as  certain  that  this  did  not  merely  occur  for  the  first  time  when 
Pilate  was  procurator,  but  that  in  fact  no  such  right  could  be  said  to  have 
belonged  to  the  Jews  ever  since  Judaea  came  to  be  under  procurators  at  all. 

•''^  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  2.  4 :  Titus  puts  to  the  besieged  the  following  question  : 
Did  we  not  grant  you  permission  to  put  to  death  any  one  who  went  beyond 
the  barrier,  even  tlwugh  he  icere  a  Roman?  (ov^  v/^ih  ^s  TOt^c  vTrepßxvrx;  Vjx7» 
ec'juiptiu  STreTpi-ipxccii/,  x,xti  'Vu[^»iuu  rig  fi;).  On  this  comp,  also  §  24, 
below.  The  subjecting  of  Roman  citizens  to  the  laws  of  a  foreign  city  is 
an  extraordinary  concession,  which,  as  a  rule,  was  made  only  in  the  case 
of  those  communities  which  were  recognised  as  Uherae.     See  Khun,  Die 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDEIM.  189 

venture  to  infer,  from  the  terms  used  by  Joseplius  in  speaking 
of  this  matter,  that  in  this  special  instance,  though  in  this 
alone,  the  Jews  had  an  absolute  right  to  carry  out  the  capital 
sentence  on  their  own  authority.  Nor  would  we  be  justified 
in  drawing  any  such  inference  from  the  stoning  of  Stephen 
(Acts  vii.  5  ff.).  This  latter  is  rather  to  be  regarded  either 
as  a  case  of  excess  of  jurisdiction,  or  as  an  act  of  irregular 
mob-justice.  Still,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  a  mistake 
to  assume,  as  a  statement  in  Josephus  might  seem  to  warrant 
us  in  doing,  that  the  Sanhedrim  was  not  at  liberty  to  meet  at 
all  without  the  consent  of  the  procurator.^^^  But  all  that  is 
meant  by  the  statement  in  question  is  that  the  high  priest 
liad  no  right  to  hold  a  court  of  supreme  jurisdiction  in  the 
absence  and  without  the  consent  of  the  procurator.  As  little 
are  we  to  assume  that  the  Jewish  authorities  were  required 
to  hand  over  every  offender  in  the  first  instance  to  the  pro- 
curator. This  they  no  doubt  did  if  at  any  time  it  seemed  to 
them  to  be  expedient  to  do  so,*^*  but  that  does  not  necessarily 
imply  that  they  were  bound  to  do  it.  We  see  then  that  the 
Sanhedrim  had  been  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  toleiably 
extensive  jurisdiction,  the  most  serious  restriction  to  it  being, 
of  course,  the  fact  that  the  Koman  authorities  could  at  any 
time  take  the  initiative  themselves,  and  proceed  independently 
of  the  Jewish  court,  as  they  actually  did  in  not  a  few  instances, 
as,  for  example,  when  Paul  was  arrested.  Further,  it  was  in 
the  power,  not  only  of  the  procurator,  but  even  of  the  tribune 
of  the  cohorts  stationed  in  Jerusalem,  to  call  the  Sanhedrim 

städtische  und  biin/ci-I.  Vcrjassnn<j,  ii.  24.  Marquardt,  Römische  Staatsver- 
waltung, i.  7.5  f.,  und  especially  the  decree  of  the  Roman  senate  with  refer- 
ence to  Chios  passed  in  the  year  074  A.U.C.  =  80  B.c.  (Corp.  Inscr.  Grace. 
n.  2222)  :  o'l  n  irap  uvtoJ;  ö'un;  Vu{^oüot  rolg  'S.iicov  vTruKovuniv  vöf^ot;. 
Tliis  concession  then  was  accorded  to  the  Jews,  at  least  as  far  as  the 
particular  case  in  question  was  concerned. 

■'■'^  Antt.  XX.  9.  1  :  ov>c  e^ov  iju  ' Ai/oc'ju  xuplg  rvi;  tKiivov  '■/iic,iy.r,i  y.tn^iaott 
avvihp'.ov. 

^'^  In  the  time  of  Albinus,  for  example,  the  .Jewish  aipx'^vri;  delivered  to 
the  procurator  a  certain  lunatic,  whose  behaviour  seemed  to  tliem  to  be  of 
a  dangerous  character  {Dell.  Jud.  vii.  5.  3,  ed.  Bckker,  p.  104,  liu.  6  ff.). 


190  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

together  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  to  it  any  matter 
requiring  to  be  investigated  from  the  standpoint  of  Jewish 
law  (Acts  XX.  30  ;  comp,  xxiii.  15,  20,  28). 

4.  The  time  and  ^j/act;  of  meeting.  The  local  courts 
usually  sat  on  the  second  and  fifth  days  of  the  week  (Monday 
and  Thursday).^^^  "Whether  this  was  also  the  practice  in  the 
case  of  the  supreme  Sanhedrim  we  have  no  means  of  knowing. 
There  were  no  courts  held  on  festival  days  (ni^  DV),  much  less 
on  the  Sabbath.^^**  As  in  criminal  cases  a  capital  sentence 
could  not  be  pronounced  till  the  day  following  the  trial,  it 
was  necessary  to  take  care  not  to  allow  cases  of  this  nature 
to  be  concluded  on  the  evening  preceding  the  Sabbath  or  any 
festival  day."^  Of  course  all  those  regulations  were,  in  the 
first  instance,  of  a  purely  theoretical  character,  and,  as  we 
know  from  what  took  place  in  the  case  of  Jesus,  were  by  no 
means  strictly  adhered  to.  The  place  in  which  the  supreme 
Sanhedrim  was  in  the  habit  of  meeting  (the  ßovkrj)  was 
situated,  according  to  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.  v.  4.  2,  close  to  the 
so-called  Xystos,  and  that  on  the  east  side  of  it,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  temple  mount.  Now,  seeing  that,  according  to 
Bell.  Jiid.  ii.  16.  3,  there  was  nothing  but  a  bridge  between 
the  Xystos  and  this  latter,  it  is  probable  that  the  ßovkt^  was 
to  be  found  upon  the  temple  mount  itself,  on  the  w-estern 
side  of  the  enclosing  wall.  In  any  case,  it  must  have  stood 
outside  the  upper  part  of  the  city,  for,  according  to  Bell.  Jud.  vi. 
6.  3,  we  find  that  the  Eomans  had  destroyed  the  ßovXevTtjpiov 
(=ßov\'^)  before  they  had  as  yet  got  possession  of  the  upper  part 
of  the  city.  The  Mishna  repeatedly  mentions  the  nnan  niirp 
as  the  place  where  the  supreme  Sanhedrim  held  its  sittiugs.^^^ 

519  Kethuhoih  i.  1. 

520  Beza  (or  Jom  tob),  v.  2.  Comp.  Oehler  in  Herzoges  Real-Eiicycl.,  1st 
ed.  vol.  xiii.  203  (art.  "  Sabbath').  Bleek's  Beiträge  zur  Evangelien-Kritik 
(18i6),  p.  141  £f. ;  Wieseler's  Chronologische  Synopse,  p.  361  ff.  Kirchner, 
Die  jüdische  Passahfeier  und  Jesu  letztes  Mahl  (Program,  for  the  Gymnasium 
at  Duisburg,  1870),  p.  57  ff. 

°-^  Sanhedrin  iv.  l,fin. 

5-2  Sanhedrin  xi.  2  ;  Middoth  v.  4.     Comp.  Pea  ii.  6  ;  Edujoth  vii.  4. 


§  23.    COXSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM.  191 

Kow,  seeing  that  its  statements  cannot  possibly  refer  to  any 
other  period  than  that  of  Josephus,  and  considering,  more- 
over, that  by  the  ßovXrj  of  this  historian  we  are  undoubtedly 
to  understand  the  meeting-place  of  the  supreme  Sanhedrim, 
we  must  necessarily  identify  the  n\f3''Ii  nai^p  with  the  ßovXyj  of 
Josephus.  It  may  be  presumed  therefore  that  the  designa- 
tion nnjn  nDB'3  was  not  meant  to  imply  (as  has  been  commonly 
supposed)  that  the  hall  in  question  was  built  of  hewn  stones 
(n^ra  =  hewn  stones), — which  could  hardly  be  regarded  as  a 
characteristic  feature, — but  that  it  stood  beside  the  Xystos 
(n'T3  =  |i/crT09,  as  in  the  Sept.  1  Chrou.  xxii.  2  ;  Amos  v.  1 1). 
To  distinguishi  it  from  the  other  rii3*j6  on  the  temple  esplanade 
it  was  called,  from  its  situation,  "  the  hall  beside  the  Xystos." 
It  is  true  that  the  Mishna  represents  it  as  having  been  within 
the  inner  court.*^^  But,  considering  how  untrustworthy  and 
sometimes  inaccurate  are  its  statements  elsewhere  resardiu" 
the  topography  of  the  temple,  the  testimony  of  the  Mishna 
cannot  be  supposed  to  invalidate  the  result  arrived  at  above, 
especially  as  it  happens  to  be  corroborated  by  other  circum- 
stances besides."^*  "We  may  regard  as  utterly  useless  here 
the  later  Talmudic  statement,  to   the  effect  that,  forty  years 

"^^  See  Middoth  v.  4  in  particular  ;  also  Sanhcdrin  xi.  2.  In  tlie  Bab^'lonian 
Gemara,  Joma  xx.»,  it  is  stated  somewhat  more  circumstuutially  tliat  tlie 
rffin  Dy^'?  stood  one  half  within,  and  the  other  half  without  the  court  (see 
the  passage,  for  example,  in  Buxtorf's  Lex.  Chald.  under  n^rj).  l^ca  ii.  6 
and  Edujoth  vii.  4  cannot  be  said  to  furnish  any  data  for  enabling  us 
to  determine  the  site  of  the  building ;  as  little  have  we  any  in  Taviid 
ü.ßn.,  iy.  fin.  For  although,  according  to  the  two  last-mentioned  passages, 
the  priests  were  in  the  habit  of  betaking  themselves  to  then'' Jjn  DJ  Ji'i?  during 
the  intervals  between  the  various  parts  of  the  service,  for  tlie  purpose  of 
casting  the  lots  and  of  repeating  the  schma,  it  does  not  neccs^5arily  follow 
from  this  that  the  building  w'as  situated  within  the  court. 

^^*  In  the  tractate  Joma  i.  1  mention  is  made  of  a  jmms  D^L"^  ('is  we 
ought  to  read  witli  Cod.  de  Rossi  138,  in.stead  of  the  |m,~i^2  n3w6  of  tiie 
printed  editions),  by  which  we  are  undoubtedly  to  understand  the  place  in 
which  the  supreme  Sanhedrim  met  (jmmD  =  T^üpiopoi)  ;  and  it  is,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  most  in  harmony  with  the  context  (comp.  i.  5)  to  regard  it 
as  having  been  outside  the  court.  But  the  truth  is,  it  is  in  itself  somewhat 
unlikely  that  any  portion  of  the  inner  court  would  be  usi-d  for  purposes 
other  than  those  connected  with  the  temple  services. 


192  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

before  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  the  Sanhedrim  had  either 
removed  or  had  been  ejected  (nn^j)  from  the  lischkath  hagasith, 
and  that  after  that  it  held  its  sittings  in  the  chanujoth 
(nvi:n)  or  in  a  chanuth  (n"i:n),  a  merchant's  shop.^^**  This 
view  must  be  completely  dismissed,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
no  trace  of  it  is  as  yet  to  be  met  with  in  the  pages  of  the 
Mishna,  which,  on  the  contrary,  obviously  presupposes  that 
the  Sanhedrim  still  held  its  sittings  in  the  lischkath  hagasith 
on  the  very  eve  of  the  destruction  of  the  temple.  As  it  so 
happens  that  the  forty  years  immediately  preceding  the 
destruction  of  the  temple  are  also  regarded  as  the  period 
during  which  the  Sanhedrim  had  ceased  to  have  the  right  to 
pronounce  a  capital  sentence  (see  above,  note  515),  it  is 
probable  that  what  the  Talmudic  statement  in  question  means, 
is  that  during  the  period  just  referred  to  the  Sanhedrim  was 
no  longer  at  liberty,  or  was  no  longer  inclined,  to  hold  its 
sittings  in  the  usual  official  court-house,  but  met  in  some 
obscure  place,  i.e.  in  "  the  merchant's  shops,"  or,  as  the  reading 
with  the  singular  chanuth  is  perhaps  to  be  preferred,  in  a 
"  merchant's  shop."  For  rii3n  is  the  ordinary  word  for  a  shop 
with  an  arched  roof,  a  merchant's  shop.^^^  As  in  one  instance 
it  is  stated  that  the  Sanhedrim  subsequently  removed  from 
the  chanuth  into  Jerusalem^^^  probably  we  are  to  conceive  of 
that  building  as  having  been  outside  the  city  proper.  But 
all  further  conjectures  on  the  part  of  scholars  as  to  where  it 
stood   are   superfluous,   for   the   thing  itself  is  in   the   main 

^25  Shahhath  xv.^  ;  Rosh  hashana  xxxi.a ;  Sanhedrin  xii.a  ;  Ahoda  sara 
viii.^  In  the  edition  of  the  Talmud  now  before  me  (Amsterdam  1644  ff.) 
it  is  only  in  the  first-mentioned  passage  {Shahhath  xv.a)  that  the  plural 
chanujoth  occurs,  the  singular  chanuth  being  used  in  the  other  three  instances. 
See  besides  the  passages  in  Selden's  De  synedriis,  ii.  15.  7-8 ;  "Wagenseil's 
note  on  Sota  ix.  11  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  iii.  297)  ;  Levy's  Neuhehr. 
Wörlerh.  ii.  80  (see  under  nijn). 

526  por  example,  see  Baha  kamma  ii.  2,  vi.  6 ;  Baba  mezia  ii.  4,  iv.  11  ; 
Baha  hathra  ii.  3.  For  the  plural  niMjn,  see  Taanith  i.  6 ;  Baha  mezia 
viii.  6 ;  Ahoda  sara  i.  4 ;  Tohoroth  vi.  3.  The  shopkeeper  or  dealer  was 
called  ""Jian. 

^^^  Rosh  hashana  xxxi.* 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDKIM.  193 

unhistorical.^"^  Although  on  the  occasion  on  which  Jesus 
was  condemned  to  death  (Mark  xiv.  5  3  ff. ;  Matt.  xxvi.  5  7  ff.) 
the  Sanhedrim  happened  to  meet  in  the  palace  of  the  high 
priest,  we  must  regard  this  as  an  exception  to  the  rule,  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  simple  fact  of  its  having  met  during  the 
night.  For  at  night  the  gates  of  the  temple  mount  were  shut.*^^' 
5.  Judicial  procedure.  This,  according  to  the  account  of  it 
given  in  the  Mishna,  was  as  follows.^^"  The  members  of 
the  court  sat  in  a  semicircle  (JY^'^V.  T)}^  "'VD?,  literally,  like 
the  half  of  a  circular  threshing-floor),  in  order  that  they 
might  be  able  to  see  each  other.  In  front  of  them  stood  the 
two  clerks  of  the  court,  one  on  the  right  hand  and  the  other 
on  the  left,  whose  duty  it  was  to  record  the  votes  of  those 
who  were  in  favour  of  acquittal  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
those  who  were  in  favour  of  a  sentence  of  condemna- 
tion   on    the    other."^      There    also    sat    in    front    of   them 

^-8  The  above  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  unhistorical  statement  in 
question  now  appears  to  me  to  be  the  most  probable  of  any.  For  another 
see  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1878,  p.  625.  Even  so  early  as  in  the  Tulmud  we  find 
nothing  but  a  fluctuating  indecision  as  to  the  motives  which  led  the  Sanhe- 
drim to  remove  from  the  usual  place  of  meeting  ;  see  Ahoda  sara  viii.*^,  or 
the  German  translation  in  Ferd.  Christian  Ewald,  Ahoda  Sarah,  oder  der 
Götzendienst  (2nd  ed.  1868),  pp.  62-64. 

*29  Middoth  i.  1.  We  have  no  evidence  of  any  other  meeting  of  the 
Sanhedrim  ever  having  been  held  in  the  high  priest's  palace.  For  in  Luke 
xxii.  54  ff.  and  John  xviii.  13  ff.,  what  we  have  to  do  with  is  simply  a  pre- 
liminary investigation  before  the  high  priest.  And  as  for  the  statement 
with  regard  to  the  place  of  meeting  in  Matt.  xxvi.  3,  it  is  only  to  be  regarded 
as  a  subsequent  addition  on  the  part  of  the  evangelist,  comp.  Mark  xiv.  1 ; 
Luke  xxii.  2.  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  question  as  to  where  the  supreme 
Sanhedrim  held  its  sittings,  see  my  article  in  the  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1878,  pp. 
608-626.  See  also,  at  p.  608  of  the  same,  the  earlier  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject, in  which  however  no  decisive  results  have  been  reached  owing  to  the 
uncritical  way  in  which  it  has  dealt  with  the  sources. 

^^''  On  the  forms  of  judicial  procedure  in  the  Old  Testament,  see  Winer's 
Realwurtcrh.,  art.  "Gericht;"  Oehler's  art.  "Gericht  und  Gcrichtsverwaltung 
bei  den  Hebräern,"  in  Herzog's  Rccd-Enc,  1st  ed.  vol.  v.  pp.  57-61. 
Saalschütz,  Das  Mosaische  Recht,  ii.  593  ff.  Keil,  Handbuch  der  bihlischen 
Archäologie  (2nd  ed.  1875),  sec.  150.  Köhler,  Lehrbuch  der  biblischen 
Geschichte,  i.  359  ff. 

^''^  Sanhedrin  iv.  3.  There  is  also  one  instance  in  Josephus  in  which 
0  ypocfcf/.otnvg  rijs  ßoVhij;  is  mentioned,  Bell.  Jud.  v.  13.  1. 

DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  N 


194  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       III.    SANHEDRIM. 

three  rows  of  the  disciples  of  the  learned  men,  each  of  whom 
had  his  own  special  seat  assigned  him.^^^  The  prisoner  at  the 
bar  was  always  required  to  appear  in  a  humble  attitude  and 
dressed  in  mourning.*^^  In  cases  involving  a  capital  sentence, 
special  forms  were  prescribed  for  conducting  the  trial  and 
pronouncing  the  sentence.  On  such  occasions  it  was  the 
practice  always  to  hear  the  reasons  in  favour  of  acquittal  in 
the  first  place,  which  being  done,  those  in  favour  of  a  convic- 
tion might  next  be  stated.^^*  When  any  one  had  once  spoken 
in  favour  of  the  accused  he  was  not  at  liberty  afterwards  to 
say  anything  unfavourable  to  him,  though  the  converse  was 
permissible.®^'  Those  of  the  student  disciples  who  happened  to 
be  present  were  also  allowed  to  speak,  though  only  in  favour 
of  and  not  against  the  prisoner,  while  on  other  occasions  not 
involving  a  capital  sentence  they  could  do  either  the  one  or 
the  other  as  they  thought  proper.®^"  A  sentence  of  acquittal 
might  be  pronounced  on  the  same  day  as  that  of  the  trial, 
whereas  a  sentence  of  condemnation  could  not  be  pronounced  till 
the  following  day.®^'^  The  voting,  in  the  course  of  which  each 
individual  stood  up  in  his  turn,®^*  began  "  at  the  side,"  12fn  |p, 
i.e.  with  the  youngest  member  of  the  court,  whereas  on  other 
occasions  it  was  the  practice  to  commence  with  the  most 
distinguished  member.*^^  Tor  a  sentence  of  acquittal  a  simple 
majority  was  sufficient,  while  for  one  of  condemnation  again  a 
majority  of  two  was  required.®*"  If  therefore  twelve  of  the 
twenty-three  judges  necessary  to  form  a  quorum  voted  for 
acquittal  and  eleven  for  a  conviction,  then  the  prisoner  was 
discharged ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  twelve  were  for  a  con- 
viction and  eleven  for  acquittal,  then  in  that  case  the  number 

*'2  Sanhedrin  iv.  4. 

"^^  Joseph.  Antt.  xiv.  9.  4.     Comp.  Sacharja  3.  3. 

^3*  Sanhedrin  iv.  1.  *^^  Sanhedrin  iv.  1,  v.  5. 

^^^  Sanhedrin  iv.  1,  v.  4. 

^^'^  Sanhedrin  iv.  1,  v.  5.  On  this  ground  many  have  sought  to  account 
for  the  alleged  twofold  meeting  of  the  Sanliedrini  when  Jesus  was  con- 
demned to  death. 

^^ä  Sanhedrin  v.  5.  ^^*  Sanhedrin  iv.  2. 

**"  Sanhedrin  iv.  1. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PKIESTS.  195 

of  the  judges  had  to  be  increased  by  the  addition  of  two  to 
their  number,  which  was  repeated  if  necessary  untu  either  an 
acquittal  was  secured  or  tlie  majority  requisite  for  a  conviction 
was  obtained.  But,  of  course,  they  had  to  restrict  themselves 
to  the  maximum  number  of  seventy-one.**^ 


IV.   THE  HIGH  PRIESTS. 
The  Literature. 

Seiden,  De  successione  in  pontificatum  Ebraeorum,  lib.  i.  cap.  11-12 
(frequently  printed  along  with  Selden's  other  works ;  for  example,  in 
the  edition  of  the  Uxor  Ebraica,  Francof.  ad  Od.  1673  ;  also  in  Ugolini's 
Thesaurus,  vol.  xii.). 

Lightfoot,  Ministerium  templi  Hierosolymitani,  c.  iv.  3  {0pp.  ed.  Roterodam. 
i.  684  ff.). 

Relaud,  Antiquitates  sacrae,  par.  ii.  c.  2  (ed.  Lips.  1724,  p.  146  f.). 

Anger,  De  temporum  in  actis  apostolorum  raiione  (1833),  p.  93  f. 

Ewald,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel,  vol.  vi.  3rd  ed.  1868,  p.  634. 

Schürer,  Die  xpxi^pi'is  i"i  Neuen  Testamente  {Stud.  u.  Krit.  1872,  pp. 
593-657). 

Grätz,  Monatsschr.f'dr  Geschichte  und  Wissensch.  des  Judenthums,  Jahrg.  1877, 
pp.  450-464,  and  Jahrg.  1881,  pp.  49-64,  97-112. 

The  most  distinctive  feature  of  the  Jewish  constitution  as  it 
existed  during  the  period  subsequent  to  the  exile  is  this,  that 
the  high  priest  was  the  ^political  head  of  the  nation  as  well. 
That  he  was  so  at  least  from  the  commencement  of  the  Greek 
era  down  to  the  days  of  the  Eomano-Herodian  rule  is 
regarded  as  entirely  beyond  dispute.  The  high  priests  of 
the  pre-Maccabaean  age  as  well  as  those  of  the  Asmonaean 
liae  were  not  only  priests,  but  also  princes  at  one  and  the 
same  time.  And  although  their  authority  was  restricted  on 
the  one  hand  by  the  Greek  suzerains,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
gerousia,  still  it  was  very  greatly  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  their  high  office  was  hereditary  and  tenable  for  life.  The 
combination  of  priesthood  and  royalty  as  seen  in  the  case  of 
the  later  Asmonaeans  represented  the  very  acme  of  sacerdotal 
power  and  authority.  After  the  Romans  came  upon  the 
***  Sanhedrin  v.  5. 


196  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PRIESTS. 

scene,  and  still  more  under  the  Herodian  princes,  they  of 
course  lost  much  of  their  power.  The  Asmonaean  dynasty 
was  overthrown,  nay  was  extirpated  altogether.  The  principle 
of  inheritance  and  life-tenure  was  done  away  with.  High 
priests  were  appointed  and  deposed  at  pleasure  by  Herod 
and  the  Eomans  alike.  In  addition  to  this,  there  was  the 
steady  increase  of  the  power  of  Pharisaism  and  the  Eabbinical 
school.  But  even  in  spite  of  the  combined  influence  of  all 
the  factors  we  have  mentioned,  the  high-priesthood  contrived 
to  retain  a  considerable  share  of  its  original  power  down  to 
the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the  temple.  And  even  after 
that  the  high  priests  continued  to  act  as  presidents  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  and  consequently  to  have  the  chief  direction  of  the 
civil  affairs  of  the  community  as  well.  Even  then  there  still 
remained  a  few  privileged  families  from  which  the  high 
priests  continued  to  be  almost  always  selected.  And 
accordingly,  although  under  the  supreme  rule  of  the  Romans 
and  the  Herodian  princes  they  no  longer  formed,  it  may  be, 
a  monarchical  dynasty,  they  yet  continued  to  exist  as  an 
influential  aristocracy.  As  we  are  familiar,  from  political 
history,  with  the  series  of  high  priests  down  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  Asmonaeans,  it  will  be  sufficient  at  present  merely  to 
subjoin  a  list  of  those  belonging  to  the  Romano-Herodian 
period.  Josephus  tells  us  that  they  numbered  twenty-eight  in 
all.^*^  Accordingly  on  collating  his  different  notices  with 
regard  to  them,  we  get  the  following  twenty-eight  names : — ^^ 


5*2  A7ltt.  XX.  10. 

s*3  A  list  of  those  high  priests,  based  on  the  notices  found  in  Josephus, 
has  already  been  framed  by  several  Greek  divines,  viz.  (1)  by  Josephus 
the  Christian  in  his  Hypomnesticum  s.  liber  memorialis,  chap.  ii.  (first  edited 
by  Fabricius,  Codex  pseudepigrapTius  Vet.  Test.,  vol.  ii.,  and  afterwards 
given  in  Gallendi's  Biblioth.  Patrum,  vol.  xiv.,  and  Migne's  Patrol,  graec, 
vol.  cvi.)  ;  (2)  by  Nicephorus  Constantinop.  in  his  Chronographia  com- 
pendiaria,  or  rather  according  to  De  Boor,  by  the  author  of  the  revised 
version  of  this  Chronography  (critical  edition  by  Credner  in  two  programs 
for  the  University  of  Giessen,  1832-1838,  ii.  33  f.,  and  especially  by  De 
Boor,  Nicephori  Const,  optiscida,  Lips.  1880,  pp.  110-112).  Then  Zonaras, 
who  inserts  extracts  from  Josephus  into  the  first  six  books  of  his  Annals, 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  l'RIESTS.  197 

(a)  Appointed  by  Herod  (37-4  B.c.): — 

1.  Ananel   (37-36   b.c.),  a  native   of  Babylon,   and 

belonging  to  an  obscure  priestly  family,  Antt. 
XV.  2,  4,  3.  1.  The  Eabbinical  traditions  repre- 
sent him  as  having  been  an  Egyptian.''" 

2.  Aristobulus,  the  last  of  the  Asmonaeans  (35  b.c.), 

Antt  XV.  3.  1,  3. 

Ananel  for  the  second  time  (34  ff.  b.c.),  Antt, 
XV.  3.  3. 

3.  Jesus  the  son  of  Phabes,  Antt.  xv.  9.  3.^*^ 

4.  Simon  the  son  of  Boethos,  or  according  to  other 

accounts,  Boethos  himself,  in  any  case  the  father- 
in-law  of  Herod,  he  having  been  the  father  of 
Mariamne  II.  (some  time  between  24  and  25 
b.c.),  A7itt.  XV.  9.  3,  xvii.  4.  2.  Comp,  xviii.  5.  1, 
xix.  6.  2.  The  family  belonged  originally  to 
Alexandria,  Atitt.  xv.  9,  3. 

has  also  arlopted  the  passages  about  the  high  priests  almost  entirely 
(Annal.  v.  12-vi.  17).  The  part  referring  to  the  high  priests  in  the  time 
of  Jesus  (Joseph.  Antt.  xviii.  2.  2)  is  also  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Hist.  cccl. 
i.  10.  5-6,  and  Dcmonstr.  evang.  viii.  2.  100 ;  in  like  manner  in  the 
Chr  on.  pa  schale,  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  417.  Of  the  modern  lists  the  most  correct 
is  that  of  Anger,  with  which  our  own  entirely  agrees.  For  a  fuller  treat- 
ment of  the  matter,  see  my  article  in  the  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1872,  pp.  597-607. 

***  In  the  Mishna,  Para  iii.  5,  those  high  priests  are  enumerated  under 
whom  a  red  heifer  had  been  burnt  (in  compliance  with  the  enactment  of 
Num.  xix.).  In  the  post-Asraonaean  age  this  took  place  under  the  three 
following: — (1)  Elioenai  ben  ha-Kajaph,  (2)  Chananiel  the  Egyptian,  (3) 
Ismael  ben  Pi-abi  ('>ns  '•Q  p  i^xyo'^:"!  nvOH  ^X03ni  ^''^pr^  p  "i'-yv^X,  the 
orthography  of  the  names  according  to  Cod.  de  Rosd  138).  Chanamel  the 
Egyptian  can  have  been  no  other  than  our  Ananel.  There  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  that  the  form  of  the  name  is  just  as  inaccurate  as  is  tlie  statement 
to  the  effect  that  he  was  an  Egj'ptian.  Moreover,  the  chronological  order 
is  incorrect,  for  by  the  Elioenai,  who  is  mentioned  first,  no  other  can  have 
been  intended  than  Elionaios  the  son  of  Kantheras,  whose  name  occurs 
much  farther  down  the  list  (No,  19).  As  for  the  rest,  the  term 
"  Egyptian"  is  simply  equivalent  to  Alexandrian,  which  other  high  priests 
of  the  time  of  Herod  actually  were,  as  for  example  the  sons  of  Boethos 
{Antt.  XV.  9.  3). 

'*''  In  Joseph.  Hiipomnest.  'l/iaoi/c  6  toD  't>xvßyi,  Zonaras.  Annal.  v.  16 
(Bouuens.  i.  433),  ^»ßriros,  as  in  Josephus  the  Jew. 


198  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PRIESTS. 

5.  Matthias  the  son  of  Theophilos  (5-4  B.c.),  Antt. 

xvii.  4.  2,  6.  4. 

6.  Joseph  the  son  of  EUem,  Antt.  xvii.  6.  4.^*® 

7.  Joasar  the  son  of  Boethos  (4  b.c.),  Antt.  xvii.  6.  4. 
(&)  Appointed  by  Archelaus  (4  b.c.- 6  a.b.)  : — 

8.  Eleasar  the  son  of  Boethos  (4  &.),  Antt.  xvii.  13.  1. 

9.  Jesus  the  son  of  Hee,  Antt.  xvii.  13.  1.^" 
Joasar  for  the  second  time,  Antt.  xviii.  1.  1,  2.  1. 

(c)  Appointed  by  Quirinus  (a.d.  6)  : — 

10.  Ananos  or  Hannas  the  son  of  Seth   (6-15   A.D.), 

Antt.  xviii.  2.  1,  2.      Comp.  xx.  9.  1  ;  Bell.  Jiid. 
V.  12.  2.     This  is  the  high  priest  so  well  known 
in  the  New  Testament,  Luke  iii.  2  ;  John  xviii. 
13-24;  Acts  iv.  6. 
(c?)  Appointed  by  Valerius  Gratus  (a.D.  15-26) : — 

11.  Ismael  the  son  of  Phabi  (some  time  between  15 

and  16  A.D.),  Antt.  xviii.  2.  2.'** 

12.  Eleasar  the  son  of  Ananos  (some  time  between  16 

and  17  A.D.),  Antt.  xviii.  2.  2. 

546  "Whether  this  Joseph  should  be  included  in  the  list  is  open  to  question, 
for  he  officiated  only  once,  and  that  on  the  great  day  of  atonement,  merely 
as  a  substitute  for  Matthias,  who  had  been  prevented  from  doing  duty  him- 
self in  consequence  of  some  Levitical  defilement.  But  be  this  as  it  may, 
he  was  stül,  on  this  account,  the  actual  high  priest  for  at  least  a  period  of 
one  day,  while  he  is  certainly  included  by  Josephus,  as  otherwise  the 
number  would  not  have  amounted  to  twenty-eight.  His  name  likewise 
occurs  in  the  list  of  Josephus  the  Christian  (Hypomnest.  chap.  ii.).  The 
singular  incident  just  referred  to  is  also  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
Eabbinical  sources  (see  Seiden,  De  successione  in  pontißcatum  Ehr.  i.  11,  ed. 
Francof.  p.  160.  Derenbourg,  Histoire  de  la  Palestine.,  p.  160,  note. 
Grätz,  Monatsschrift,  1881,  p.  51  ff.).  The  high  priest  now  in  question  is 
there  known  as  D^''5<  p  ?1DV. 

5*''  In  Joseph.  Antt.  xvii.  13.  1,  he  is  called  ^lr,arjig  6  2<5  or  2«  (the 
manuscripts  reading  sometimes  the  one  and  sometimes  the  other)  ;  Joseph. 
Hypomnest.  ^Iriaoi?  6  rou  'lit;  in  Nicephorus,  'Imov;  'flc/js ;  in  Zonaras, 
Annal.  vi.  2  (ed.  Bonnens.  i.  472),  T^ocr,  2se. 

^*ä  The  name  of  the  father  as  given  in  Joseph.  Antt.  xviii.  2,  2 ;  Euseb. 
Hist.  eccl.  i.  10.  5,  ed.  Heinichen ;  and  Zonams,  Annal.  vi.  3  (ed.  Bonnens. 
i.  477),  is  *«/3/;  while  in  Euseb.  Demonstr.  cr.  viii.  2.  100,  it  is  *-/j/3«;  in 
Joseph.  Hypomnest.  B<«/3^ ;  and  in  Chron.  pasch.^  ed.  Dindorf,  I  417, 
B«^w'. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PRIESTS.  199 

13.  Simon   the    son   of    Kamithos    (somewliere   about 

17-18  A.D.),  Antt.  xviii.  2.  2.'*' 

1 4.  Joseph  called  Caiaphas  (somewhere  between  1 8  and 

36  A.D.),  A71U.  xviii.  2.  2,  4.  3.     Comp.  Matt.  xxvi. 
3,  57;  Luke  iii.  2;  John  xi.  49,  xviii.   13,  14, 
24,  28  ;  Acts  iv.  6.     According  to  John  xviii.  13, 
he  was  the  father-in-law  of  Hannas  =  Ananos.^" 
(e)  Appointed  by  Vitellius  (35-39  A.D.): — 

15.  Jonathan  the  son  of  Ananos   (36-37  A.D.),  Antt. 

xviii.  4.  3,  5.  3.  Comp.  xix.  6.  4.  He  was 
found  still  playing  a  prominent  part  in  public 
life  in  the  time  of  Cumanus,  50-52  A.D.  {Bell. 
Jud.  ii.  12.  5-6),  and  was  ultimately  assassinated 
at  the  instigation  of  Felix  the  procurator  (Bell. 
Jud.  ii.  13.  3  ;  Aoitt.  xx.  8.  5). 

16.  Theophilos   the  son  of  Ananos   (37  ff.  A.D.),  Antt. 

xviii.  5.  3. 
(/)  Appointed  by  Agrippa  I.  (41-44  A.D.): — 

17.  Simon  Kantheras  the  son  of  Boethos  (41  ff.  A.D.), 

Antt.  xix.  6.  2.'^' 

18.  Matthias  the  son  of  Ananos,  Antt.  xix.  6.  4. 

19.  Elionaios  the  son  of  Kantheros,  Aiitt.  xix.  8.  1.^'^ 

"9  This  high  priest  is  also  frequently  mentioned  iu  the  Rabbinical 
sources  (Seiden,  De  succcssione  in  pontifical,  pp.  161,  177,  ed.  Francof. 
Derenbourg,  Hiatoirc,  p.  197.  Griitz,  Monatsschrift  1881,  p.  .53  ff.).  He  ia 
there  known  by  the  name  of  DTIöp  p  PV^-'-  ^^  Joseph.  AtUt.,  Euseb. 
Hbt.  cccL,  and  in  Zoiiaras,  Annal.  vi.  3  (i.  477),  the  father's  name  is  K«,£/w^oj, 
while  in  Euseb.  Dcmonstr.  it  is  Kxdi,uo;,  in  Joseph.  Hypomncst.  Ku^/ifiosy 
and  in  Chron.  pascli.,  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  408  and  417,  Y^a.y.a,6ii. 

S50  The  surname  Caiaphas  is  not  =  KD^D,  but  =  NQ^'ip  or  f\'<'<p ;  see  note 
544  above.     Derenbourg,  p.  215,  note  2. 

8*^  See  the  wild  combinations  of  every  sort  that  have  been  indulged  in 
with  regard  to  this  personage  in  Grätz,  Monatsschrift  1881,  pp.  97-112. 

^^2  According  to  Ajitt.  xx.  1.  3,  he  also  appears  to  have  the  surname 
Kantheras  as  well  as  his  father.  In  the  Mishna,  Para  iii.  5,  he  is  known 
as  ^'^''pT]  p  "J^y'>"'!'X  (see  note  544,  above).  The  Rabbinical  tradition 
regards  him  as  a  son  of  Caiaphas.     The  name   ''J"'yirT'!5N    (»ly  t'y^'s  are 

directed  to  Jehovah)  or  "•j'i/i^^x  is  also  to  be  met  with  in  the  Old  Testament 

(Ezra  viii.  4,  x.  22,  27 ;  1  Chrou.  iii.  23,  iv.  36,  vii.  8,  xxvi.  o). 


20Ü  §  23.    COXSTITÜTIOX.       IV.    UIGII  PEIESTS. 

{g)  Appointed  by  Herod  of  Chalkis  (44-48  a.d.).^ 

20.  Joseph  the  son  of  Kami  or  Kamedes  ( =  Kamithos), 

Antt.  XX.  1.  3,  5.  2."* 

21.  Ananias  the  son  of  Nedebaios  (somewhere  between 

47  and  59  A.D.),  Antt.  xx.  5.  2  ;  comp.  xx.  6.  2  ; 
Bell.  Jucl.  ii.  12.  6  ;  Acts  xxiii.  2,  xxiv.  1.  In 
consequence  of  his  wealth  he  continued  to  be  a 
man  of  great  influence  even  after  his  deposition, 
although,  at  the  same  time,  notorious  for  his 
avarice  {Antt.  xx.  9.  2-4).  He  was  put  to  death 
by  the  insurgents  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Jewish  war  {Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  6,  9)."^ 
(7i)  Appointed  by  Agrippa  II.  (50-100  A.D.) : — 

22.  Ismael  the  son  of  Phabi  (about  59-61  A.D.),  Antt. 

XX.  8.  8,  11.  He  is  probably  identical  with  the 
person  of  the  same  name  whose  execution  at 
Cyrene  is  incidentally  mentioned,  Bell.  Jucl.  vi. 
2.  2.''* 

^*3  It  would  also  be  somewhere  about  this  time  (about  44  a.d.)  that  the 
high  priest  Ismael  comes  in,  who  according  to  Antt.  iii.  15.  3,  was  in  oflice 
during  the  great  famine  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Claudius.  But  as 
Josephus  says  nothing  about  him  in  the  course  of  the  narrative  itself,  we 
are  probably  to  look  upon  this  casual  mention  of  Lim  as  a  fault  of  memory 
on  the  part  of  the  historian.  Ewald  {Geschichte.,  vi.  634)  inserts  him  after 
Elionaios,  while  Wieseler  {Chronologic  des  apostol.  Zeitalters,  p.  159)  identifies 
him  with  this  latter. 

^^*  The  name  of  the  father,  which  at  one  time  appears  as  Kot/^iei  {Antt.  xx. 
1.  ^^Zonaxas,  Annal.  vi.  12,fin.')ov  Kä,y./i  (Joseph.  Hypomnest.),  at  snoihev 
as  KiiA.ih^g  {Antt.  xx.  5.  2,  according  to  the  readiug  of  Dindorf  and  Bekker 
=  Zouaras,  Annal.  vi.  14),  is  in  any  case  identical  with  Kamithos. 

555  Yov  his  avarice,  comp,  besides  the  Talmudic  tradition  in  Deren- 
bourg's  Histoirc,  p.  233  f. 

*^^  It  is  probably  this  younger  Ismael,  son  of  Phabi  (not  the  high  priest 
of  the  same  name  who  stands  eleventh  in  the  list),  that  is  also  referred  to  in 
the  Rabbinical  traditions  regarding  ''2S''D  p  pSyCC"  (Mishna,  Para  iii.  5 ; 
Sota  ix.  15  ;  in  the  latter  passage  it  is  also  the  high  priest  of  this  name  that 
is  meant,  for  the  predicate  Rabbi  should,  with  Cod.  de  Rossi,  be  expunged. 
Tosefta.  ed.  Zuckeimandel,  pp.  182.  26,  533.  35  f.,  632.  6.  See  in  general, 
Derenbourg"s  Histoire,  pp.  232-235).  In  the  printed  texts  the  father's 
name  is  frequently  corrupted.  The  correct  form  is  ""QS^S,  or  divided  thus 
'3N  ''2  (as  in  Cod.  de  Jiossi  138,  in  the  one  passage  in  Mhich  it  occurs  in 


§  23.    CO>:STITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PIUESTS.  201 

23.  Joseph    Kabi,^"   son    of  Simon    the    high    priest 

(61-62  A.D.),  Antt.  XX.  8.  11  ;  comp.  Bell.  Jud. 
vi.  2.  2. 

24.  Ananos  the  son  of  Ananos  (62  A.D.,  for  only  three 

months),  Antt.  xx.  9.  1.  He  was  one  of  those 
who  played  a  leading  part  during  the  first  period 
of  the  Jewish  war,  but  was  subsequently  put  to 
death  by  the  populace,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  3,  22. 
1-2,  iv.  from  3.  7  to  5.  2  ;  Vita,  38,  39,  44,  60."* 

25.  Jesus  the  son  of  Damnaios   (about  62-63   A.D.), 

Antt.  xx.  9.  1.  and  4;  comp.  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  2.  2. 

26.  Jesus  the  son  of  Gamaliel    (about  63-65  A.D.), 

Antt.  XX.  9.  4,  7.  In  the  course  of  the  Jewish 
war  he  is  frequently  mentioned  along  with 
Ananos,  whose  fate  he  also  shared.  Bell.  Jud.  iv. 
3.  9,  4.  3,  5.  2  ;  Vita,  38,  41.  According  to 
Rabbinical  tradition,  his  wife,  Martha,  was  of  the 
house  of  Boethos."^ 

27.  Matthias  the  son  of  Theophilos  (65  ff.  A.D.),  Antt. 

XX.  9.  7  ;  comp.  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  2.  2.'^ 


the  Mislina,  viz.  Para  iii.  5).  There  is  as  near  an  approach  to  this  as 
possible  in  the  Greeic  form  ^txßt,  which  is  found  in  the  manuscripts  in  one 
instance  at  least,  viz.  Anil.  xx.  8.  8. 

*"^  In  Joseph.  Anlt.  xx.  8.  11,  the  surname  is  written  Küßt ;  in  Zonoras, 
Annal.  vi.  17,  it  is  AeKctßi  (i.e.  oi  Kxßl)  ;  and  in  Joseph.  Hijpomnest. 
Kei/a^;.     The  latter  would  correspond  to  Kamithos. 

558  Pqj.  coinliiuatioiis  with  respect  to  this  high  priest,  see  Gratz,  Monalsschi: 
1881,  pp.  56-G2. 

^^^  Mishna,  Jehamolh  vi.  4  :  "If  one  Imppens  tobe  betrothed  to  a  widow, 
and  is  subsequently  ajipointed  to  tho  ofhce  of  high  priest,  he  is  at  liberty  to 
conduct  iier  home  as  his  bride.  Thus  Josua,  son  nf  Gamla,  wasbetrothod  to 
Martha  the  daughter  of  Bocthas,  and  afterwards  the  king  appointed  him  to 
be  high  priest ;  and  on  the  back  of  this  he  conducted  Martha  home  as  his 
bride."  Our  Josua,  sou  of  Gamala,  is  probably  identical  again  with  the 
Ben  Gamala  who,  according  to  Joma  iii.  9,  ordered  a  golden  urn  to  be 
made  from  which  to  draw  the  lots  relating  to  the  two  he-goats  on  the  great 
day  of  atonement.  For  further  Kabbinical  traditions  regarding  this  per- 
sonage, sec  Derenbourg,  p.  248  f.  As  to  his  services  in  the  way  of  promoting 
education,  see  below,  §  27,  note  29. 

'''o  On  this  high  priest,  see  also  Gratz,  Monatsschr.  1881,  pp.  02-64. 


202  §  23.    CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PRIESTS. 

(i)  Appointed  by  the  people  during  the  war  (67-68  A.D.) : — 

28,  Phannias  or  Phineesos  the   son  of  Samuel,  and  of 

humble    origin,    Bell.    Jud.    iv.    3.    8 ;  Antt.  xx. 

Owing  to  the  frequency  with  which  those  high  priests  were 
changed,  the  number  of  those  who  had  ceased  to  hold  office 
was  always  something  considerable.  But,  although  they  no 
longer  discharged  the  active  functions  of  the  office,  they  still 
continued  to  occupy  an  important  and  influential  position,  as 
can  still  be  shown  with  regard  to  several  of  them  at  least."^^ 
We  know  from  the  New  Testament,  for  example,  what  an 
amount  of  influence  the  elder  Ananos  or  Hannas  (IsTo.  1 0)  had 
even  as  a  retired  high  priest.  The  same  may  be  said  of  his 
son  Jonathan  (No.  15),  who,  long  after  he  had  ceased  to  hold 
office,  conducted  an  embassy,  in  the  year  52  a.D.,  to  the 
Syrian  viceroy  Umidius  Quadratus.  This  latter  then  sent 
him  to  Eome  to  answer  for  certain  disturbances  that  had  taken 
place  in  Judaea ;  and  when  he  had  got  the  matter  settled  in 
favour  of  the  Jews,  he  took  the  opportunity  of  his  being  in 
Eome  to  request  the  emperor  to  send  Felix  as  the  new  pro- 
curator. Then  when  Felix  was  found  to  be  causing  universal 
dissatisfaction  in  consequence  of  the  way  in  which  he  was 
discharging  the  functions  of  his  office,  Jonathan  took  the  liberty 
of  reminding  him  of  his  duty,  for  doing  which  however  he 
had  to  answer  with  his  life.^^^  Another  high  priest,  Ananias 
the  son  of  Nedebaios  (No.  21),  ruled  in  Jerusalem  almost  like 
a  despot  after  he  had  retired  from  office.  Then  the  younger 
Ananos  (No.  24)  and  Jesus  the  son  of  Gamaliel  (No.  26), 
although  no  longer  exercising  the  functions  of  the  high-priest- 
hood, were  found  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  the  earlier  stage  of 
the  Jewish  war.  From  all  this  it  is  evident  that,  though  not 
actually  in  office,  those  men  were  by  no  means  condemned  to 

5^^  This,  the  last  of  the  high  priests,  is  also  known  to  the  Rabbinical 
traditions  ;  see  Derenboui-jr,  p.  2G9.     His  name  in  Hebrew  was  DPIi^S. 
562  Pop  -^vhat  follows,  comp.  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1872,  p.  619  ff. 
^'^■"  The  references  to  passages  are  to  be  found  above,  passim. 


§  23.   CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PRIESTS.  203 

political  inactivity.  On  the  contrary,  the  office  was  such  that 
it  imparted  to  the  holder  of  it  a  cliaracter  indelihilis  in  virtue 
of  which  he  retained,  even  after  demitting  it,  a  large  portion 
of  the  rights  and  obligations  of  the  officiating  high  priest,'" 
and  of  course  the  title  of  äp')(Lepev<;  as  well,  a  title  that,  in 
Josephus,  is  accorded  to  the  whole  of  the  ex-high  priests. 
Consequently  wherever  in  the  New  Testament  dp^tepeh  appear 
at  the  head  of  the  Sanhedrim,  we  are  to  understand  that 
those  referred  to  are  first  and  foremost  the  ex-high  priests 
in  question,  inclusive  at  the  same  time  of  the  one  actually  in 
office.'^«' 

But  sometimes  we  read  of  certain  other  personages  who  are 
described  as  dpp^tepet?,  and  yet  their  names  do  not  appear  in 
the  foregoing  list.  In  the  Acts  (iv.  6)  we  have  the  following 
enumeration  :  "Avvat;  6  dp^iepev^  koX  Ka'iu(f)a<;  koI  ^Ia)ävvi]<i 
Kai  A\e^avhpo<;  koI  oaot  rjaav  eK  yevovi  ap^tepariKov.  In  a 
subsequent  passage  (xix.  14)  mention  is  made  of  a  high  priest 
called  Sceva  with  his  seven  sons.  Josephus  again  mentions 
a  certain  Jesus,  son  of  Sapphias,  as  being  tmv  äp^i'^pecov  ei/a,'""' 
also  one  Simon  e'f  dpj^^iepewv,  who  was  still  young  at  the  time 
of  the  war,  and  consequently  cannot  be  identical  with  Simon 

5G4  l/orajoih  iii.  1-4.  See,  in  particular,  iii.  4  :  "  Between  a  higii  priest 
in  office  and  one  who  has  demitted  it  there  is  no  more  difference  than 
I)etween  the  yonng  oxen  on  the  great  day  of  atonement  and  the  tenth  of  an 
cphah.  But  both  are  equal  to  one  another  in  respect  of  the  service  on  the 
jCfreat  day  of  atonement,  in  respect  of  the  law  requiring  them  to  marry  a 
maid  ;  both  alike  are  forbidden  to  marry  a  widow,  to  deüle  themselves  by 
contact  with  the  dead  bodies  of  blood  relations,  to  let  the  hair  grow  long, 
to  rend  theii-  garments,  while  their  death  (in  the  event  of  their  being 
murdered)  has  the  effect  of  bringing  back  the  murderer."  The  same  points 
to  some  extent  are  also  found  in  Mff/illa  i.  9  and  Makkoth  ii.  6. 

*""  This  is  corroborated  above  all  by  the  following  passages,  Bell.  Jud.  ii. 
12.  G:  Tot)j  ccpxitpiii  liivxl)r,v  Kotl  \\v»viccv  \  Vita,  ")8 :  royj  ipxii^ou;" \u*vov 
Kxi  Iricrovv  t6i>  toS  Tu/icoc>öc;  B<U.  Jud.  iv.  3.  7  :  6  yipxiTUTo;  rüv  dpy^iiptuv 
A»etuo;.  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  4.  3  :  c  far  "  Avotuov  yipxiTXTo;  ruiv  dpxtipiuu  ^lr,aov;. 
Bell.  Jud.  iv.  3.  9  :  o/  OoKifcurxrot  zuv  xfix^ipiav.,  Yxj^x'Kx  f^iv  via;  Injirow;, 
'Avecvov  "hi" Auxvo;.  In  the  last  three  passages  the  xpxnpu;  must  have  been 
high  priests  in  the  sense  in  which  Ananos  and  Jesus  were  so,  i.e.  ex- high 
priests  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word. 

•^cc  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  20.  4. 


204  §  23.   CONSTITUTION.       IV.    HIGH  PRIESTS. 

Kantlieras  (No.  17)/*^'^  and  lastly,  one  Matthias,  son  of  Boethos, 
TOP  ap-^iepea  or  e/c  Tojv  ap'^cepecovf^^  Not  one  of  those  just 
mentioned  is  to  be  found  in  our  list.  Besides  there  is  many  a 
high  priest  known  to  the  Rabbinical  traditions  whose  name 
does  not  appear  there.^^^  This  fact  may  perhaps  be  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  what  we  are  now  going  to  mention. 

Apropos  of  the  irregular  appointment  of  Phannias  to  the 
office  of  high  priest,  Josephus  remarks/'^"  that  the  zealots,  by 
acting  as  they  did  on  this  occasion,  "  had  robbed  of  their  im- 
portance those  families  from  which  in  their  order  it  had  been  the 
practice  to  select  the  high  priests  "  {aKvpa  ra  yevr)  TroirjaavTe'i 
i^  0)v  Kara  BiaSo^a^  oi  ap'^iepel'i  aireheiKwro).  The  liigli- 
pritstliood  ivould  tlierefore  seem  to  have  leen  vested  m  a  few 
jjrivileged  families.  The  truth  is,  one  only  requires  to  glance 
at  the  foregoing  list  in  order  to  be  convinced  that  the  office 
was  confined  to  only  a  few  families.  To  the  family  of  Phabi, 
for  example,  belong  Nos.  3,  11,  22;  to  the  family  of 
Boethos,  Nos.  4,  7,  8,  17,  19,  26;  to  the  family  of 
Ananos  (or  Hannas),  Nos.  10,  12,  14,  15,  16,  18,  24,  27; 
and  to  the  family  of  Kamith,  Nos.  13,  20,  23.  Leaving 
Ananel,  a  Babylonian  of  humble  origin  (No.  1),  Aristobulus 
the  last  of  the  Asmonaeans  (No.  2),  and  Phannias,  the  high 
priest  of  the  revolution  period  (No.  28),  out  of  account,  there 
remain  only  five  (Nos.  5,  6,  9,  21,  25)  who  cannot  be  proved 
to  have  belonged  to  one  or  other  of  those  families,  although  it 
is  still  possible  that  they  did  so.  Now  when  one  considers 
how  the  high-priesthood  was  thus  confined  to  a  few  families, 
and  in  what  high  estimation  the  office  was  held,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  see  that  the  mere  fact  of  belonging  to  any  one  of 
the  privileged  families  in  question  must  of  itself  have  been 
sufficient  to  confer  special  distinction  upon  a  man.  And 
hence  we  can  understand  how  it  should  be  that  Josephus,  in 
a  certain  passage  in  which  he  wishes  to  tell  us  particularly 
who  of  the  notabilities  were  among  those  who  went  over  to 

«67   Vita,  39.  56«  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  9.  11,  v.  13.  1,  vi.  2.  2. 

««»  See  :^tud.  u.  Krlt.  1872,  p.  G39.  ^'O  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  3.  6. 


§  23.    CONSTITUTION.      IV.    HIGH  PRIESTS.  205 

the  Iiomans,  enumerates  tlie  viol  rwv  äp')(^iepeo)v  along  witli 
the  ap'^cepet';  themselves.^' ^  In  the  Mishna  again,  we  find 
that  on  one  occasion  the  "  sons  of  the  high  priests  "  (Q^^lI^  ''33 
D7in3)  are  quoted  as  authorities  on  certain  points  of  matri- 
monial law,  and  that  too  without  mentioning  their  names, 
seeing  that  the  simple  fact  of  their  being  high  priests'  sons 
stamped  them  as  men  of  importance  and  authority.^"  In 
another  instance,  we  are  informed  that  letters  with  unusually- 
large  seals  had  come  "  to  the  sons  of  the  high  priests  "  (D''3nD  '':2b 
D'hTii)  from  distant  lands,^'^  from  which  we  may  again  infer 
that  these  also  enjoyed  a  certain  reputation  abroad.  But  they 
did  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  mere  dignity  of  rank ;  so  far 
from  that,  the  members  of  those  high-priestly  families  also 
played  a  prominent  part  in  public  affairs.  According  to  Acts 
iv.  6,  among  those  who  had  seats  and  a  right  to  speak  and 
vote  in  the  Sanhedrim  were  6<toi  rjaav  e'/c  jivov<;  ap'x^iepa- 
TiKov,  where,  from  all  that  has  been  already  stated,  it  is 
certain  that  the  yevo^i  dp^iepartKov  can  only  refer  to  the 
privileged  families  now  in  question.  Now,  if  the  members  of 
the  high-priestly  families  occupied  so  distinguished  a  position, 
it  is  quite  conceivable  that  the  designation  ap'^^iepei^:  would 
come  to  be  used  in  a  more  comprehensive  sense  so  as  to 
include  them  as  well.  That  this  is  what  actually  took  place 
may  be  seen,  to  say  nothing  of  all  that  has  been  previously 
advanced,  from  the  passage  in  Josephus  mentioned  above, 
where  after  recording  the  fact  that  two  high  priests  and  eight 
high  priests'  sons  were  among  those  who  went  over  to  the 
Itomans,  he  proceeds  to  include  these  two  categories  under  the 
common  designation  of  dpxi^pel'i.^'*  This  will  also  serve  to 
account  for  the  circumstance  of  high  priests  being  sometimes 
mentioned  that  are  not  to  be  found  in  our  list. 

«"  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  2.  2.         572  Kethuhoth  xiü.  1-2.  '73  Ohnloth  xvii.  5. 

574  ßcll^  Jud.  vi.  2.  2:  'Hi/  r.<jot.u  ocpxupi'i  f^iv  '  lüi7r,7rö;  ri  kccI  '  Inaov;,  viol 
d  ctpxiipi6)v  rpil;  f^iv  ^Icfccc-zirov  rov  Kxpxrof/,/,diiiro;  ev  Kvptivtj,  k»\  tow 
MaT^/oy  Ticrainpi;,   y.xl   il;  irepov  "SlXTOiov   ■ttoci;,    OiuOpoi;  fiSTCc  rr,v  rov  ttxtoo; 

OCTTUlMlX!/,  01/  6  ToD  YlÜpX  'Zifjf.OlU  ÜTTiKTflUS  (JV'J  Tpniv  t//o(J,  Ü;  -TTpOiipnTXI. 
IIoXTlOt    Oi   KXl  Tl»V    xKhi)»   ii/'/iVOIV  TO/J   XOy^tiOiVflt  Uf .«,M£T£/3ä>.0>70. 


206  §  23.  CONSTITUTION.      IV.    HIGH  PKIESTS. 

Consequently  the  high  priests  that,  in  the  New  Testament 
as  well  as  in  Josephus  "*  appear  as  leading  personages  would 
consist,  in  the  first  instance,  of  the  high  priests  properly  so 
called,  i.e.  the  one  actually  in  office  and  those  who  had 
previously  been  so,  and  then,  of  the  members  of  those 
privileged  families  from  which  the  high  priests  were  taken. 
In  the  days  of  Eoman  rule  they  were  at  the  head  of  the 
Sanhedrim  and  of  the  native  government  generally,  and 
although  the  majority  of  them  were  unquestionably  men  of 
Sadducaean  tendencies,  yet  in  the  actual  conduct  of  affairs 
they  bowed,  however  reluctantly,  to  the  wishes  of  the  Pharisees 
(see  above,  p.  154). 

"^fi  Especially  in  the  section,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  14-17 


§  24.  THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP 

The   LlTEKATURE. 

Lightfoot,  Ministerium  tempU  quale  erat  tempore  nostri  scrvatoris  {0pp.  ed. 

Rotterdam,  i.  pp.  671-758). 
Liindius,  Die  altev  jüdischen  Heiligthümer,  Gottesdienste  und  Gewohnheiten, 

für   Augen  gestellet    in    einer   ausführlichen   Beschreibimg  des  gantzen 

levitischen  Priesterthums,  etc.,  itzo  von  neuem  übersehen  und  in  beygefügten 

Anmerckungen  hin  und  wieder  thcils  vei-bessert,   theils  vermehret  durch 

Johan.  Christophorum  Wolßum,  Hamburg  1738. 
Carpzov   (Joh.    Gottlob),    Apparatus    historico    criticus  antiquitalum  sacri 

codicis  (1748),  pp.  64-113,  611  ff.,  699  ff. 
ügolini,  Sacerdotium  Hebraicum,  iu  his  Thesaurus  Antiquitatum  sacrarum, 

vol.  xiii.     Ibid.,  still  other  cognate  monographs  in  vols.  xii.  and  xiii. 
Bahr,  Symbolik  des  mosaischen  Cultus,  2  vols.  1837-1839),  vol.  i.  2nd  ed.  1874. 
Winer,  Realwörterb.,  arts.  "  Priester,"  "  Leviten,"  "Abgaben,"  "Erstge- 
burt," "Erstlinge,"  "Hebe,"  "Zehnt,"  "Opfer,"  etc. 
Herzfeld,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Jisrael,  i.  387-424,  iii.  106  ff.,  162  ff. 
Oehler,  art.  "Priesterthum,"  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc,  1st  ed.  vol.  xii.  174- 

187.    Ibid.  by  the  same,  arts.  "Levi,"  vol.  viii.  347—358;  "Nethiuim," 

vol.  X.  296  f. ;  and  "  Opfercultus,"  vol.  x.  614-652.     The  same  articles 

iu  the  second  edition  as  revised  by  Orelli. 
De  Wette,  Lehrbuch  der  hebräisch-jüdischen  Archäol.  (4th  ed.  1864),  p.  268  ff. 
Ewald,  Die  Alterthümcr  des  Volkes  Israel,  Göttingen  1866. 
Keil,  Handbuch  der  biblischem  Archäologie  (2nd  ed.    1875),    pp.    166  ff., 

200  ff.,  357  ff.,  373  ff. 
Haueberg,  Die  religiösen  Alterthümcr  der  Bibel  (2nd  ed.  1869),  pp.  356  ff., 

508  ff.,  599  ff. 
Schenkel's  Bibellexicon,  the  same  articles  as  in  Winer. 
Riehm,  Handwörterbuch  des  biblischen  Alterthums,  the  articles  relating  to 

our  subject. 
Graf,  Zur  Geschichte  des  Stamnws  Levi  (Merx'  Archie  für   tvissenschaftl 

Erforschung  des  A.  T.\s,  vol.  i.  1869,  pp.  68-106,  208-236). 
Köhler,  Lehrbuch  der  biblischen  Geschichte,  vol.  i.  1875,  pp.  363-454. 
Wellhausen,   Geschichte  Jsraels,  vol.  i.  1878,  pp.  15-174  (2nd  ed.,  under 

the  title  :  Prolegomena  zur  Geschichte  Israels,  1883). 
Dillraann,  Exegetisches  Handbuch  zu  Exodus  und  Leviticus  (1880),  pp.  455- 

461  and  elsewhere. 
Reuss,  Geschichte  der  heiligen  Schriften  Alten  Testantenis  (1881),  sec.  ccxciv. 

I.  THi;  I'j;iEöTIIUOI)  AS  A  DISTINCT  ORDER. 

The  internal  development  of  Israel  subsequent  to  the  exile 


208         §  24.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AXD  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP. 

was  essentially  determined  by  the  direction  given  to  it  by 
two  equally  influential  classes,  viz.  the  priests  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  scribes  on  the  other.  During  the  centuries 
immediately  following  the  exile  and  till  far  on  into  the  Greek 
era,  it  was,  in  the  first  instance,  the  influence  of  the  'priests 
that  was  predominant.  It  was  they  who  had  been  instru- 
mental in  organizing  the  new  community ;  it  was  from  them 
that  the  law  had  emanated ;  and  to  their  hands  had  been 
entrusted  the  direction,  not  only  of  the  material,  but  also  of 
the  spiritual  affairs  of  the  whole  body  of  the  people.  But 
although  originally  it  was  they  who  were  specially  versed  in 
the  law  and  were  looked  upon  as  its  authoritative  interpreters, 
yet  by  and  by  there  gradually  grew  up  alongside  of  them  an 
independent  order  of  doctors  or  men  learned  in  the  law. 
And  the  importance  and  influence  of  these  latter  would 
necessarily  go  on  increasing  in  proportion  as  the  priests  grew 
less  and  less  zealous  for  the  law  of  their  fathers  on  the  one 
hand,  and  as  the  law  itself  came  to  acquire  a  greater  value 
and  significance  in  the  estimation  of  the  people  on  the  other. 
This  was  the  case  more  particularly  after  the  Maccabaean 
wars  of  independence.  Ever  since  then  the  scribes  got  the 
spiritual  superintendence  of  the  people  more  and  more  into 
their  own  hands.  And  so  the  age  of  the  priests  was  succeeded 
by  that  of  the  scribes  (comp.  Eeuss,  Geschichte  der  heiligen 
Schriften  A.  T.'s).  This  however  is  not  to  be  understood  as 
implying  that  the  priests  had  now  lost  all  their  influence. 
Politically  and  socially  they  still  occupied  the  foremost  place 
quite  as  much  as  ever  they  did.  It  is  true  the  scribes  had 
now  come  to  be  recognised  as  the  teachers  of  the  people. 
But,  in  virtue  of  their  political  standing,  in  virtue  of  the 
powerful  resources  at  their  command,  and,  lastly  and  above 
all,  in  virtue  of  their  sacred  prerogatives — for,  inasmuch  as 
they  enjoyed  the  exclusive  right  of  offering  Israel's  sacrifices 
to  God,  their  intervention  was  necessary  to  the  fulfilment  of 
his  religious  duties  in  the  case  of  every  member  of  the  com- 
munity,— in    virtue    of    all    this,    we    say,    the    priests   still 


§  21.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.  209 

continued  to  have  an  extraordinary  significance  for  the  life  of 
^he  nation. 

Now  this  significance  of  theirs  was  due  mainly  to  the 
simple  fact  that  they  constituted  a  distinct  order,  possessing 
the  exclusive  right  to  offer  the  people's  sacrifices  to  God. 
According  to  the  legislation  of  the  Pentateuch,  which  had 
been  regarded  as  absolutely  binding  ever  since  the  time  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  "  the  sans  of  Aaron  "  were  alone  entitled 
to  take  part  in  the  sacrificial  worship}  The  priesthood  was 
therefore  a  fraternity  fenced  round  with  irremovable  barriers, 
for  they  had  been  fixed  for  ever  by  natural  descent.  No  one 
could  possibly  be  admitted  to  this  order  who  did  not  belong 
to  it  by  birth ;  nor  could  any  one  be  excluded  from  it  whose 
legitimate  birth  entitled  him  to  admission.  Now  this  order, 
so  rigidly  exclusive  in  its  character,  was  in  possession  of  the 
highest  privilege  that  can  well  be  conceived  of,  the  privilege 
namely  of  offering  to  God  all  the  sacrifices  of  the  nation  at 
large,  and  of  every  individual  member  of  the  community. 
This  circumstance  alone  could  not  but  be  calculated  to  invest 
the  priesthood  with  a  vast  amount  of  influence  and  authority, 
all  the  more  that  civil  life  was  intertwined,  in  such  an  end- 
less variety  of  ways,  with  the  religious  observances.^  But,  in 
addition  to  this,  there  was  the  fact,  that  ever  since  the 
Deuteronomic  legislation  came  into  force  in  the  time  of  Josiah 

^  See  in  particular,  Ex.  xxviii.-xxix. ;  Lev.  viii.-x. ;  Num.  xvi.-xviii.  I 
should  observe  here  that  the  following  view  is  based  on  the  assumption 
that  the  so-called  priestly  code,  i.e.  the  bulk  of  the  laws  in  Exodus, 
Leviticus  and  Numbers,  belongs  to  a  later  date  than  Deuteronomy  and 
Ezekiel.  This,  as  it  appears  to  me.  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  by  the 
more  recent  criticism  of  the  Pentateuch.  The  legislation  of  the  priestly 
code  evidently  represents,  in  all  its  leading  features,  a  later  stage  of  develop- 
ment than  Deuteronomy  and  Ezekiel.  The  two  latter  books  would  be 
simply  vmintelligible  were  we  to  suppose  that  their  authors  wrote  them 
with  the  priestly  code  already  lying  before  them. 

^  There  were,  for  example,  numerous  points  in  matrimonial  law  and 
medical  jurisprudence  that  could  only  be  settled  by  having  recourse  to  the 
priests  ;  see  Num.  v.  ll-ol  (the  procedure  in  the  case  of  the  woman 
suspected  of  adultery)  ;  Lev.  xiii.,  xiv. ;  Dcut.  xxiv.  8,  9  (procedure  in  the 
case  of  leprosy). 

DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  O 


210       §  24.   THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

(about  630  B.c.),  it  was  declared  to  be  unlawful  to  offer 
sacrifices  anywhere  but  in  Jerusalem,  the  vjJiole  worship  being 
concentrated  in  its  sole  and  only  legitimate  sanctuary.  Conse- 
quently all  the  various  offerings  from  every  quarter  of  the 
land  flowed  into  Jerusalem  and  met  at  this  one  common 
centre  of  worship,  the  result  being  that  the  priests  that 
officiated  within  it  came  to  acquire  great  power  and  wealth. 
Moreover,  this  centralization  of  the  worship  had  the  additional 
effect  of  uniting  all  the  members  of  the  priesthood  into  one 
firmly  compacted  body. 

From  what  has  just  been  said  it  follows,  as  matter  of  course, 
that  the  primary  requisite  in  a  priest  was  evidence  of  his  pedi- 
gree. On  this  the  greatest  possible  stress  was  laid.  The 
person  who  failed  to  produce  it  could  claim  no  title  what- 
ever to  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  priesthood.  Even  so 
far  back  as  the  time  when  the  first  of  the  exiles  returned 
under  Zerubbabel,  certain  priestly  families  were  debarred 
from  the  sacred  office  because  they  could  not  produce  their 
genealogical  registers.^^  On  the  other  hand,  Josephus  assures 
us,  with  regard  to  his  own  case,  that  he  found  his  pedigree 
recorded  "  in  the  public  archives."  ^^  Consequently  the 
family  registers  would  appear  to  have  had  the  character  of 
public  records  on  account  of  their  importance  for  the  com- 
munity at  large. 

With  the  view  of  keeping  the  blood  of  the  priestly  stock  as 
pure  as  possible,  there  were  also  certain  regulations  prescribed 
with  regard  to  iimri'iage.  According  to  the  law  given  in  Lev. 
xxi.  7,  8,  a  priest  was  forbidden  to  marry  a  prostitute,  or  a 
deflowered  maid,  or  a  woman  put  away  from  her  husband ; 
consequently  he  could  only  choose  an  undefiled  virgin  or 
widow,  and  of  course  even  then  only  such  as  were  of  Israelitish 


3a  Ezra  ii.  61-63  =  Neh.  vii.  63-65. 

3^  Joseph.  Vita,  1 :  tjjj/  f^h  ovv  rov  yivov;  '/iu,u!i  ^tx'Sox'^i',  ü;  h  rotis 
0  Yifioaixtg  OiTi-roig  ocvw/S'/poe.iU.fihn'j  ivpov,  ovru  TrxpUTidifioti. 

*  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  i.  7:  lu  yxp  rov  fUTiy^ovT»  rij;  iipauvun;  s| 
ifiosdvoii;  yvvcttao;  'TrctiOO'zoisladcci. 


§  24.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         211 

forbidding  them  to  marry  any  but  the  daughters  of  priests, 
Nor  were  these  regulations  in  any  way  relaxed  in  later  times, 
for  so  far  from  that  they  came  to  be  but  the  more  sharply 
defined.^  "We  find,  for  example,  that  a  chaluza,  i.e.  a  widow 
whom  her  brother-in-law  declined  to  marry  (according  to  the 
law  regarding  levirate  marriage),  was  also  to  be  treated  as  one 
"who  had  been  put  away  from  her  husband."®  Again  a 
priest  was  forbidden  to  marry  a  woman  who  had  been  taken 
captive  in  war  as  being  a  person  that  might  well  be  suspected 
of  having  been  violated.'  Then,  if  a  priest  was  already 
without  children,  he  was  forbidden,  in  marrying  again,  to 
marry  a  woman  who  was  "  incapable ; "  *  but,  in  any  case,  he 
was  never  to  choose  a  female  proselyte  or  emancipated  slave ; 
nor  the  daughter  of  a  man  who  had  been  formerly  a  slave, 
except  in  those  cases  in  which  the  mother  happened  to  be 
of  Israelitish  extraction.^  The  regulations  were  still  more 
stringent  in  the  case  of  the  hiffh  iniest.  He  was  not  allowed 
to  marry  even  a  widow,  but  only  an  undefiled  virgin  (Lev. 
xxi.  13—15).  This,  like  the  former  regulations,  was  also 
enforced  and  rendered  yet  more  precise  in  later  times.'"     In 

*  See  in  general,  Philo,  De  monarchia,  lib.  ii.  sec.  viii.-xi.  (cd.  Mang. 
ii.  228  f.).  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  12.  2.  The  Rabbinical  prescriptions  as  given 
in  Seiden,  De  successione  in puntificatum,  ii.  2,  3  ;  Ibid.  Uxor  Ebraica,  i.  7. 
Wagenseil's  note  to  Sota  iv.  1  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  iii.  230  ff.). 
Ugolini,  TJtcsanrus,  vol.  xiii.  col.  911  ff. 

8  Sota  iv.  1,  viii.  3;  Makkoth  iii.  1.  Targum  of  Jonathan,  Sifra  and 
Pesikta  to  Lev.  xxi.  7,  as  given  in  Ugolini,  ut  supra. 

'  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  12.  2 ;  contra  Apion.  i.  7 ;  Antt.  xiii.  10.  5,  ßn. 
(account  of  John  Hyrcanus).  According  to  Kethuhoth  ii.  9,  even  priests' 
wives  that  had  been  found  in  a  town  captured  by  the  enemy  were  debarred 
from  any  further  conjugal  intercourse  with  their  husbands,  unless  it  could 
be  shown  by  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  had  not  been  violated. 

'  Jehamoth  vi.  5. 

'  Never  a  female  proselyte  or  emancipated  slave,  Jehamoth  vi.  5.  With 
regard  to  the  daughters,  see  Bikkurim  i.  5.  Rabbi  Elieser  ben  Jakob  says  : 
"A  priest  is  never  to  marry  the  daughter  of  a  proselyte  except  when  her 
mother  happens  to  be  of  Israel."  This  is  no  less  applicable  to  the  daughters 
of  emancipated  slaves.  Even  in  the  tenth  generation  it  is  lawful  only 
where  the  mother  is  of  Israelitish  origin. 

1"  Philo,  De  monarchia,  ii.  9.  Josopli.  Antt.  iii.  12.  2.  Jehamoth  vi.  ■!  :  "A 
high  priest  must  not  marry  a  widow,  whether  she  has  become  such  subse- 


212       §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

affirming,  as  he  does,  that  the  high  priest  could  only  marry  a 
virgin  belonging  to  a  priestly  family,"  Philo  states  what  is 
at  variance  at  once  with  the  text  of  Leviticus  and  the  later 
standpoint  of  the  law,  from  both  of  which  it  is  evident  that 
it  was  permissible  for  the  high  priest  to  marry  any  Israelitish 
virgin,  no  matter  to  what  family  she  might  belong.  Possibly 
Philo's  view  may  have  been  suggested  to  him  by  the  terms  of 
the  passage  in  Leviticus  as  it  stands  in  the  Septuagint,^^  per- 
haps also  by  actual  practice,  or,  it  may  be,  by  both  combined. 
The  regulation  in  Ezekiel  (xliv.  22),  to  the  effect  that  a  priest 
was  only  to  marry  a  virgin,  or  the  widow  of  a  priest,  found 
no  place  in  the  law  as  subsequently  developed.  Considering 
the  great  importance  that  was  attached  to  the  strict  observ- 
ance of  those  regulations,  a  priest  on  the  occasion  of  his 
marriage  was,  of  course,  required  to  furnish  precise  evidence 
of  his  wife's  pedigree.  Josephus  has  described  at  length  the 
very  careful  way  in  which  this  was  gone  about,^*  while  in  the 

quent  to  her  betrothal  or  subsequent  to  her  actual  marriage.  Nor  is  he  at 
liberty  to  choose  as  a  wife  a  woman  already  perfectly  marriageable.  Rabbi 
Elieser  and  Rabbi  Simon  regard  a  marriageable  woman  as  allowable.  Nor 
is  he  to  marry  one  that  has  been  injured  by  an  accident."  According  to 
Philo,  De.  monarchia,  ii.  9,ßn.,  the  high  priest  was  on  no  account  to  marry 
one  that  had  been  previously  betrothed.  Comp.  Ritter's  Philo  und  die 
Halacha  (1879),  p.  72.  Lundius,  Die  alten  jüdischen  Heiligthümer,  book 
iii.  chap.  xix. 

^^  Philo,  De  nionarchia,  ii.  11 :  ■n-podrä.^etg  tu  f/,ii/  dpx'ip^^  fivä,a6ce.i  fcii  i^övov 
fiovov  yvi/ctiKot.  TCctpStvou,  oiKhä,  xoil  lipsietu  s|   'upsuv. 

1-  In  the  Septuagint,  Lev.  xxi.  IS  runs  thus  :  wtos  yuvoux.»  ■nrctpöiuov  ix, 
Tov  yiuovg  otiirov  T^'/ixpsrxi,  there  being  nothing  in  the  Hebrew  text 
corresponding  to  the  words  kx,  tov  yivovg  uvtov.  Comp.  Ritter's  Philo  und 
die  Halacha,  p.  72  f. 

^3  Apio7i.  i.  7.  From  what  is  there  said  one  must  necessarily  assume 
that  surely  there  were  a  great  many  families  that  were  in  possession  of 
genealogical  registers.  Comp,  in  addition,  the  copious  lists  in  the  Books  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  ;  and  further,  the  indications  of  the  existence  of  such 
registers  to  be  met  with  in  the  New  Testament,  Matt.  i.  If.;  Luke  ii.  36, 
iii.  23  ff. ;  Acts  xiii.  21 ;  Rom,  xi.  1  ;  Phil.  iii.  5.  Also  Mishna,  Jebo' 
moth  iv.  13  ;  J'aanith  iv.  5.  Euseb.  Hist.  eccl.  i.  7  =  Jul.  African.  Epist.  ad 
Aristidem  (in  Routh's  Reliquiae  sacrae,  ii.  228  ff.,  and  Spitta,  Der  Brief  des 
Julius  Africanus  an  Aristides,  1877).  Winer's  Jlealwörterh.  ii.  516-518 ; 
Herzfeld's  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Jisrael,  i.  378-387  AVieseler's  Beitrage  zur 
richtigen    Würdigung   der   Evangelien    (1869),   p.    133    ff.      Holtzmana    in 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  "WORSHIP.  213 

Mishna  it  is  prescribed  liow  far  back  the  evidence  is  to 
extend,"  and  in  what  cases  it  may  be  dispensed  with.^^ 

Those  regulations  with  regard  to  marriage  are  undoubtedly 
based  upon  the  idea  that  the  priesthood  is  a  sacred  order. 
The  same  idea  has  been  further  embodied  in  yet  other 
prescriptions.  According  to  the  law  (Num.  xix.),  every  one 
was  defiled  who  came  in  contact  with  a  dead  body,  nay  who 
even  entered  a  house  in  which  such  body  happened  to  be 
lying ;  but  as  for  the  priests,  they  were  forbidden  to  approach 
a  corpse  or  to  take  part  in  the  funeral  obsequies,  the 
prohibition  being  absolute  in  the  case  of  the  high  priest, 
while  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary  priests,  the  only  exception 
was  in  favour  of  very  near  blood  relations :  parents,  children, 
and  brothers  or  sisters  (Lev.  xxi.  1—4,  11-12;  Ezek.  xliv. 
25-27).  It  would  seem  that  the  priest  was  not  even  at 
liberty  to  mourn  for  his  own  wife.  Or  are  we  to  understand, 
although  it  is  not  expressly  stated,  that  she  is  intended,  as 
matter  of  course,  to  be  included  among  the  exceptions  ?^^     In 

Schenkel's  Bihelkx.  ii.  425-430.  Hamburger's  Real-Enc,  2ud  part,  art. 
"Genealogie." 

^*  Kiddushin  iv.  4  :  "  When  a  priest  wants  to  marry  the  daughter  of  a 
priest,  he  must  go  back  and  find  evidence  with  regard  to  four  generations  of 
mothers,  and  therefore,  strictly  speaking,  with  regard  to  eight  mothers. 
These  are,  her  own  mother  and  her  mother's  mother ;  the  mother  of  her 
maternal  grandfather  and  her  mother  again  ;  the  mother  of  her  father  and 
her  mother  ;  the  mother  of  her  paternal  grandfather  and  her  mother  again. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  woman  he  wants  to  marry  be  simply  a  daughter 
of  Levi  or  of  Israel,  he  must  go  back  a  step  farther." 

^*  Kiddushin  iv.  5  :  "It  is  unnecessary  to  search  back  in  the  case  of  a 
priest  who  has  ministered  at  the  altar,  or  of  a  Levite  who  has  sung  in  the 
choir,  or  of  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim.  As  a  rule,  all  those  whose 
ancestors  are  well  known  to  have  been  public  officials  or  almoners,  are 
at  liberty  to  marry  one  belonging  to  a  priestly  family  without  further 
inquiry." 

^*'  According  to  the  usual  interpretation  of  the  text  of  Lev.  xxi.  4  as  we 
now  have  it,  the  mourning  of  the  priest  for  his  wife  would  seem  to  be  even 
expressly  forbidden.  Although,  in  this  instance,  buth  exposition  and  text 
are  exceedingly  doubtful  (see  Dillmann's  note  on  the  passage),  still  the  fact 
remains  that  the  wife  is  not  mentioned  as  one  of  the  exceptions.  Nor  ia 
ehe  mentioned  as  such  either  by  Philo,  De  monarchia,  ii.  12,  or  by  Josephus, 
Anlt.  iii.  12.  2.     The  Rabbinical  writers,  on  the  other  hand,  regard  the 


214        §  24.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

no  case  whatever  was  a  priest  to  indulge  in  any  token  of 
grief  calculated  to  disfigure  the  person,  such  as  shaving  the 
head  or  lacerating  the  body  (Lev.  xxi.  5,  6  ;  comp.  Ezek. 
xliv,  20),  nor  was  the  high  priest  to  uncover  his  head  and 
rend  his  garments  (Lev.  xxi.  10  ;  comp.  x.  6,  7).^^^ 

Then  again  it  was  essential  to  the  sacred  character  attaching 
to  a  priest,  that  he  should  be  totally  free  from  every  sort  of 
'physical  defect.  If  any  one  had  a  bodily  defect  of  any  kind 
about  him,  no  matter  though  he  belonged  to  the  "  sons  of 
Aaron,"  he  was  thereby  disqualified  from  officiating  as  a  priest. 
The  various  kinds  of  defects  are  already  enumerated  with 
pretty  considerable  detail  in  the  law  as  found  in  Leviticus 
(xxi.  16-23).  And,  as  was  to  be  expected,  this  too  is 
one  of  those  points  on  which  a  later  age  has  exercised  its 
ingenuity  in  the  way  of  being  minutely  and  painfully  specific. 
It  has  been  calculated  that  the  number  of  bodily  defects  that 
disqualified  a  man  for  the  office  of  the  priesthood  amount  in 
all  to  142.^^  At  the  same  time  however  the  priests  who,  for 
the  reason  now  in  question,  were  debarred  from  exercising 
any  of  the  functions  of  the  priesthood,  were  entitled  to  a 
share  of  the  emoluments  as  well  as  the  others,  for  they  too 
belonged  to  the  ordo}^ 

There  is  nothing  prescribed  in  the  law  as  to  the  age  at 
which  a  priest  was  to  be  allowed  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of 
his  office.     Perhaps  we  may  venture  to   assume  that  it  must 

ilSB'  of  Lev.  xxi.  2  as  referring  to  her,  wliile  they  understand  xxi.  4  of  the 
act  of  mourning  for  an  illegitimate  wife.  See  the  passages  from  the  Targum 
of  Jonathan  and  Sifra  in  Ugolini,  xiii.  929  if.  For  the  subject  generally, 
consult  besides,  Oehler,  xii.  176  f. 

1"^  Comp,  besides,  Lundius,  Die  alten  jüdischen  Heiligthümer,  book  üL 
chap.  20. 

^'^  Haneberg,  Die  religiösen  Alterthiimer  der  Bibel,  p.  532.  See  in  general, 
Philo,  De  mo7iarchia,  ii.  5.  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  12.  2.  Mishna,  Bechoroth  vii. 
Seiden,  De  successione  in  pontificatum  Ehr.  ii.  5.  Carpzov,  Apparatus 
historico-critiais,  pp.  89-94.  Ugolini,  xiii.  897  fF.  Haneberg,  p.  531  f. 
Oehler,  xii.  176.  For  parallels  from  heathen  antiquity,  see  the  Knobel- 
Dillmann  Exeget.  Handh.  zu  Exodus  und  Leviticus,  p.  568. 

^^  Lev.  xxi.  22.  Philo,  De  monarchia,  ii.  13.  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  12.  2 ; 
Bell.  Jud.  V.  5.  7.     Mishna,  Sebachim  xii.  1 ;  Menachoth  xiii.  10,  fin. 


§  2i.    THE  PUIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.  215 

have  been  the  same  as  that  at  which  the  Levites  entered  upon 
theirs.  Yet  even  this  latter  is  given  differently  in  different 
parts  of  the  Old  Testament.^^  The  Eabbinical  tradition  states 
that  a  priest  was  duly  qualified  for  his  duties  as  soon  as  the 
first  signs  of  manhood  made  their  appearance,  but  that  he 
was  not  actually  installed  till  he  was  twenty  years  of  age."" 

And  now  when  all  the  requirements  to  which  we  have 
referred  were  found  to  be  satisfied,  and  when  his  fitness  had 
been  duly  established  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Sanhedrim,^^ 
the  priest  was  set  apart  to  his  office  by  a  special  act  of 
consecration.  According  to  the  leading  passage  in  the  law 
bearing  on  this  matter,  viz.  Ex.  xxix.  =  Lev.  viii.,  this  solemn 
act  consisted  of  three  parts :  (1)  the  washing  of  the  body  with 
water,  (2)  the  putting  on  of  the  sacred  vestments,  and  (3)  a 
series  of  sacrifices  the  offering  of  which  was  accompanied  with 
further  ceremonies  of  a  partly  special  kind,  viz.  the  anointing 
of  various  parts  of  the  body  with  blood,  the  sprinkling  of  the 
person  and  the  garments  with  oil  and  blood,  the  "  filling  of 
the  hands,"  i.e.  the  taking  of  certain  portions  of  the  victims  and 
laying  them  upon  the  hands  of  the  priest  with  the  view  of 
indicating  thereby  his  future  duties  and  rights.  In  several 
other  passages  (Ex.  xxvili.  41,  xxx,  30,  xl.  12-15  ;  Lev.  vii,  36, 
X.  7  ;  Num.  iii.  3)  there  is  superadded  to  these  the  pouring 
of  ointment  upon  the  head,  an  act  which,  according  to  the 
leading  passage  on  the  subject,  was  observed,  and  that  as  a 
mark  of  distinction,  solely  in  the  case  of  the  high  priest.'^^ 
The  whole  ceremony  extended  over  seven  days  (Ex.  xxix. 
35  ff.;  Lev.  viii.  33  ff.).  How  it  fared  with  this  ceremony  at 
a  later  period  has  been,  so  far  as  several  of  its  details  are 

»9  In  Num.  iv.  3,  23,  30,  85,  39,  43,  47, 1  Chron.  xxiii.  3,  it  is  stated  to  be 
the  thirtieth,  in  Num.  viii.  23-26  the  twenty-fifth,  and  in  Ezra  iii.  8, 1  Chron. 
xxiii.  24,  27,  2  Chron.  xxxi.  17,  the  twentieth  year. 

-<*  See  the  passage  from  Sifra  {  =  Bah.  Chullin  24b)  in  Seiden,  De  succes- 
sioiie,  ii.  4,  and  Ugolini,  Thcs.  xiii.  927. 

-*  Middoth  y.fin. 

-2  On  this  point,  see  "Wellhausen,  Jahrh.  f.  deutsche  Theol.  1877,  p.  412  f. 
Dillmann's  Exeget.  Handbuch,  note  on  Lev.  viii.  12. 


216         §  24.   THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP. 

concerned,  a  matter  of  some  dispute.^^  It  is  probable  that  the 
pouring  of  oil  upon  the  head  continued  to  be  retained  as  a 
mark  of  distinction  in  the  case  of  the  high  priest.^* 

As  the  priests  were  so  numerous  it  was  simply  impossible 
that  they  could  all  officiate  at  the  same  time.  It  was  there- 
fore necessary  to  have  an  arrangement  according  to  which 
they  could  do  so  in  regular  rotation.  With  a  view  to  this 
the  whole  body  of  the  priests  was  divided  into  twenty-four 
families  or  courses  of  servicer^  The  account  of  the  origin  and 
organization  of  those  twenty-four  courses  of  service  as  given 
by  the  Eabbinical  tradition  is  as  follows  :  ^®  "  Four  courses  of 
service    (DhDK^)   came  back   from    the   exile,  viz. :    Jedaiah, 

^^  See  in  general,  Seiden,  De  successione,  iL  8,  9.  Ugolioi,  Thesaurus,  xiii. 
pp.  434:  ff.,  476-548.  Bahr,  Symbolik  des  mosaischen  Cultus,  ii.  165  flr. 
Winer's  Realwörterb.,  art.  "  Priesterweihe."  Oehler  in  Herzog's  Real- 
Encycl.,  vol.  xiii.  pp.  178-180.  Haneberg,  pp.  526-531.  According  to 
some,  the  newly  admitted  priest  was  only  required  to  offer  the  meat-offering 
prescribed  in  Lev.  vi.  12  ff.  But  this  is  utterly  incredible,  and  is  based 
upon  a  pure  misapprehension  of  the  Rabbinical  passages,  which  undoubtedly 
require  that  the  newly  admitted  (therefore  newly  consecrated)  priest  should, 
in  the  first  instance,  offer  this  sacrifice  for  himself  before  offering  any 
other.  See  the  passages  in  Ugolini,  xiii.  546  f.,  and  comp.,  in  addition, 
Frankel,  lieber  den  Einfluss  der  palästinischen  Exegese,  etc.  (1851)  p.  143. 
No  further  light  is  thrown  upon  the  matter  by  Philo,  Vita  Mosis,  iii.  16-18, 
and  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  8.  6,  as  they  simply  reproduce  Ex.  xxix.  =  Lev. 
via. 

2^  Comp.  Wellhausen,  Jahrb.  f.  deutsche  Theol.  1877,  p.  412.  But  it 
would  appear  that,  in  the  latter  days  of  the  temple,  the  high  priest  himself 
was  no  longer  (or  not  always?)  anointed,  for  the  Mishna  knows  of  other 
high  priests,  who  in  contradistinction  to  the  anointed  ones  had  been 
introduced  to  their  office  through  the  ceremony  of  investing  with  the 
sacred  garments.  See  in  particidar,  Horajoth  iii.  4.  But  be  this  as  it 
may,  there  is  at  all  events  no  truth  in  the  view  of  Maimonides,  that  the 
anointing  had  been  discontinued  ever  since  the  exile. 

25  On  this  see  Lightfoot,  Ministerium  templi,  chap.  vi.  (0pp.  i.  pp.  691- 
694).  Idem,  Harmonia  evangelistarum,  note  on  Luke  i.  5  (0pp.  i.  258  ff.). 
Idem,  Horae  hebraicae,  note  on  Luke  i.  5  (0pp.  ii.  486  ff.).  Carpzov, 
Apparatus  historico-criticus,  pp.  100-102.  Ugolini,  Thesaurus,  vol.  xiii. 
col.  872  ff.  Herzfeld,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Jisrael,  i.  p.  387  ff.  Bertheau, 
Exegetisches  Handbuch  zu  Ezra,  Nehemia  und  Ester  (1862),  pp.  228-230. 
Oehler  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl.,  1st  ed.  vol.  xii.  pp.  182-186.  Haneberg, 
Die  religiösen  Alterthümer  der  Bibel,  p.  555  ff.  Graf  in  Merx'  Archiv,  i.  p, 
225  f. 

^''  Jer.  Taanith  iv.  fol.  68,  and  as  being  substantially  to  the  same  effect. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP.         2l7 

Harim,  Pashur,  and  Immer Then  the  prophets  that 

were  among  them  arose  and  made  twenty-four  lots  and  put 
them  into  an  urn.  And  Jedaiah  came  and  drew  five  lots, 
which,  including  himself,  would  therefore  make  six.  And 
Harim  came  and  drew  five  lots,  which,  including  himself, 
would  therefore  make  six.  And  Pashur  came  and  drew  five 
lots,  which,  including  himself,  would  therefore  make  six. 
And  Immer  came  and  drew  five  lots,  which,  including  him- 
self, would    therefore    make    six And    heads  of   the 

courses  of  service  (nnoK'O  ''K'N'i)  were  appointed.  And  the 
courses  were  divided  into  houses  (ni3N  ""rin).  And  there  were 
courses  consisting  of  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  or  nine  houses.  In 
a  course  consisting  of  five  houses,  three  of  them  had  to  serve 
one  day  each,  while  the  remaining  two  had  to  serve  two  days 
each ;  in  a  course  consisting  of  six  houses,  five  of  them  had 
to  serve  one  day  each,  while  one  had  to  serve  two  days ; 
where  it  consisted  of  seven,  each  served  one  day ;  of  eight,  six 
served  one  day  each  and  two  served  simultaneously  the 
remaining  day ;  of  nine,  five  served  one  day  each  and  four 
served  simultaneously  during  two  days."  It  is  true  that 
what  is  here  stated  regarding  the  origin  (or,  according  to  the 
Talmud,  the  restoration)  of  the  twenty-four  courses  of  service 
cannot  be  said  to  possess  the  value  of  an  independent  tradition, 
that,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  based  merely  upon  inferences  from 
certain  facts  that  are  mentioned  elsewhere.  Yet  it  has  so  far 
hit  the  mark  as  substantially  to  represent  the  actual  state  of 
the  case.  For  there  returned  from  the  exile,  along  with 
Zerubbabel  and  Joshua,  four  families  of  priests,  viz.  :  the 
children  of  Jedaiah,  Immer,  Paslmr,  and  Harim,  niimbering  in 
all  4289  (Ezra  ii.  36-39  =Neh.  vii.  39-42)."«*    Further,  that 

Toscfta,  Taanith  ii.  (both  passages  in  Hebrew  and  Latin  being  given 
in  Ugolini,  vol.  xiii.  p.  87G  fF.)  ;  partly  also  Bab.  Arachin  12b,  comp. 
Herzfeld,  i.  303.  In  the  above  quotation  I  follow  tlie  text  of  Jcr.  Taanith^ 
only  with  a  few  abridgments  here  and  there. 

-"■*  The  accuracy  of  the  alleged  numbers,  so  far  as  the  time  of  Zerubbabel 
is  concerned,  has  been  questioned  by  Stade  {TlicoL  Litcraturzcititng,  1884, 
218,  in  the  notice  by  Smend,  Die  Listen  der  Bücher  Esra  und  Nehemia, 


218         §  2i.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

these  four  families  comprised  the  whole  body  of  the  priesthood  at 
the  time  of  Ezra's  arrival,  and  therefore  some  eighty  years  after- 
wards as  well,  is  evident  from  Ezra  x.  18-22.  But,  along  with 
these  mention  is  also  made,  as  early  as  the  time  of  Zerubbabel 
and  Joshua  (Neh.  xii.  1-7),  of  twenty-two  classes  of  priests, 
with  a  corresponding  number  of  "  heads  "  (n''3nDn  "•tJ'sn).  And 
those  same  classes  or  divisions  are  also  further  met  with  in 
the  time  of  Joshua's  successor,  Joiakim  the  high  priest 
(Neh.  xii.  12-21)."  It  is  evident  therefore  that  the  four 
families  were  subdivided  into  twenty-two  classes.  Then  it  is 
substantially  the  same  arrangement  that  is  still  to  be  met  with 
in  the  time  of  Ezra.  When  this  latter  arrived  with  a  fresh 
band  of  exiles,  he  brought  along  with  him  two  more  priestly 
families  (Ezra  viii.  2)  ^^  and  added  them  to  the  four  that  were 
already  in  the  country  (Ezra  x.  18-22).  But  we  find  that 
shortly  after,  the  number  of  classes  was  once  more  almost  the 
same  as  it  had  been  in  Zerubbabel's  time,  namely  twenty-one, 
as  may  be  seen  from  the  list  given  in  Neh.  x.  3—9.  However, 
only  fourteen  of  the  names  mentioned  in  this  latter  passage 
are  to  be  found  in  the  two  earlier  lists  (Neh.  xii.  1-7, 
12-21),  all  the  rest  being  different.  Consequently  the 
organization  of  the  divisions  must,  in  the  meanwhile,  have 
undergone  certain  alterations  of  one  kind  or  another,  as  would 
no  doubt  be  deemed  necessary  on  account  of  a  fresh  accession 

1881).  Besides  the  objections  advanced  by  this  writer,  there  is  the  further 
fact  that,  according  to  pseudo-Hecataeus,  who  belongs  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Hellenistic  period,  the  number  of  Jewish  priests  amounted  in 
all  to  only  1500  (Joseph,  contra  Apiov.  i.  22,  ed.  Bekker,  p.  202:  ituiroi 
oi  ttÜvts;  itpilg  tui/  ^lovhoiiuv,  at  r'/iv  Zikxt/iu  ruu  '•/tvofisvuv  7^ot,iA.ßix,voinig  y.cti 
rot  KoiuctttoiKOVUTB;,  Tsspl  ^i'Aiovg  fidt'htaTU.  xeii  TrevrxKoatovs  iiaiu^.  May  it 
not  be  that  the  women  and  children  are  to  be  understood  as  included  in  the 
above  4289  ?  So  far  as  our  purpose  is  concerned  this  question  may  here 
be  left  an  open  one. 

^J'  In  the  second  list  only  one  of  the  names  belonging  to  the  first 
(Chattusch)  is  wanting.  The  remaining  twenty-one  names  are  all  identi- 
cally the  same  in  both,  as  is  clearly  evident  not-nathstanding  the  numerous 
inaccuracies  of  the  text.     Comp.  Bertheau's  note  on  Neh.  xii.  12. 

^*  For  the  names  Geishom  and  Daniel  mentioned  in  this  passage  are  the 
names  of  priestly  families  ;  see  Bertheau's  note  on  it. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP,         219 

of  priestly  families  having  been  brought  by  Ezra,  and  for  other 
reasons  besides.  However,  under  the  new  order  of  things  the 
number  of  divisions  remained  the  same  as  before  and  so 
continued,  substantially  at  least,  on  through  succeeding  ages. 
In  the  time  of  the  author  of  Chronicles,  who  traces  back  the 
arrangement  that  existed  in  his  day  to  the  time  of  David,  the 
number  of  the  divisions  amounted  to  twenty-four  (1  Chron. 
xxiv.  7-18).  It  is  true  that,  in  the  catalogue  of  names 
furnished  by  this  writer,  scarcely  more  than  a  third  of  those 
in  the  earlier  lists  are  to  be  found.  That  being  so,  we  are 
bound  to  assimie  that,  in  the  meanwhile,  important  changes 
must  have  taken  place,  always  supposing  that  our  author  has 
not  drawn  somewhat  upon  his  own  imagination  for  a  number 
of  the  names  attributed  to  the  time  of  David.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  it  is  certain  that,  from  that  'point  onwards,  the  division 
into  twenty-four  classes  continued  to  subsist  loithout  any  altera- 
tion lühatcvcr.  For  we  learn  on  the  express  testimony  of 
Josephus,  that  it  was  still  maintained  in  his  own  day,^^  td 
say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  some  of  the  names  of  the  division 
continued  to  be  occasionally  mentioned  (Joiarib,  1  Mace.  ii.  1  ; 
Abia,  Luke  i.  5).^°  It  is  somewhat  strange  that,  in  a  passage 
in  his  contra  Apionem, — a  passage,  however,  that  has  come 
down  to  us  only  in  a  Latin  version, — Josephus  should  be 
found  speaking  of  foiir  families  or  divisions  (tribits)  of  the 
priests.^^      One  might  perhaps  be  disposed  to  think  that  here 

-®  Antt.  vii.  14.  7  :  oiifmviv  o'lrro;  6  ftspiafiog  »XP'  '^'^=  arifusou  ijicipa;. 
Vita,  1  :  ifiol  S'  ov  f^ö'jO'j  fl  iipioiv  iijrl  to  '/ivo;,  li'K'hoi,  y,xl  tx.  tyi;  TrpUT'/i; 
((f)rifiipihos  ruu  iltcoa manoipuv  (ttoXAjj  oe  kocv  rovru  6ioc<Pop»),  kui  zuv  iu 
ruvTVj  Ov'huv  ix,  rvii  dpiarn:.  Coiiip.  besides,  Taauith  iv.  2  ;  Svkka  v.  6-8, 
and  the  commentaries  thereon. 

^°  Joiarib  and  Jcdaiah  are  also  mentioned,  Baha  kamma  ix.  12.  The 
division  Joiarib  is  the  one  that  is  sjiid  to  have  been  oflBciating  when  the 
temple  was  destroyed,  Bah.  Taauith  29»,  in  Derenbourg's  JJiatoire  de  la 
Palestine,  p.  291.  The  division  or  course  of  Bilga  is  mentioned  in  Sukka 
V.  8. 

31  Contra  Apion.  ii.  8  (ed.  Bekker,  pp.  239,  20  ff.):  Licet  enim  sint  tribtts 
quattuor  sacerdotum,  et  harum  tribuum  siugulae  habeant  hominum  plus  quam 
quinque  miHa,  fit  tarnen  observatio  particulariter  per  dies  certos ;  ct  hiß 
transactis  alii  succedentes  ad  sacrificia  veniunt,  etc. 


220         §  24.   THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

the  historian  had  in  view  thQ  four  families  that  returned  with 
Zerubbabel.  But  as  the  context  shows  that  he  is  clearly 
referring  to  the  courses  of  service,  there  is  nothing  for  it  but 
to  assume  that  the  text  has  been  corrupted,  and  that  for  four 
we  ought  to  substitute  twenty-four.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that 
this  view  is  at  once  disposed  of  by  the  circumstance  that 
Josephus  alleges  that  the  number  in  each  division  amounted 
to  over  5000  souls.  For  it  is  probable  that  this  number 
included  the  Levites  (who  were  also  divided  into  twenty-four 
divisions,  every  division  of  the  priests  having  its  corresponding 
division  of  Levites),  and  perhaps  women  and  children  as  well ; 
besides,  we  know  only  too  well  that  one  cannot  depend  a  great 
deal  on  Josephus  in  the  matter  of  numbers. 

Each  of  the  twenty-four  main  divisions  was  in  turn  broken 
up  into  a  number  of  sub-divisions.  If  we  may  trust  the 
Talmudic  tradition  quoted  above  (p.  182),  the  number  of 
those  sub-divisions  ranged  from  five  to  nine  for  each  main 
division.  The  main  divisions  were  known  either  under  the 
general  designation  of  nippno  (divisions,  so  1  Chron.  xxviii. 
13,  21  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  14,  xxiii.  8,  xxxi.  2,  15,  16),  or,  in  so 
far  as  they  were  made  up  of  the  members  of  one  family,  they 
were  called  riiax  IT'n  (houses  of  their  fathers,  so  1  Chron.  xxiv. 
4,  6),  or,  in  so  far  as  they  had  the  services  of  the  temple  to 
attend  to,  they  were  described  as  ni"io:i'D  (watches,  so  Neh.  xiii. 
30  ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  16).  As  regards  the  sub-divisions,  for  our 
knowledge  of  which  we  are  indebted  solely  to  the  testimony 
of  post-Biblical  literature,  they  are  known  by  the  designation 
of  nux  "»rizi.  And  so  now  it  had  become  the  regular  practice 
to  distinguish  the  two  by  calling  the  main  division  a  i^VP  and 
the  sub-division  a  3X  T\''Z^^  At  the  same  time  this  distinction 
is  not   necessarily  involved  in  the  signification  of  the  words 

32  This  distinction  is  specially  noticeable  in  Taanith  ü.  6,  7.  Comp, 
further  the  passage  quoted  above,  p.  182  ;  also  Jer.  Horajoth  iii.  fol.  48^  ; 
and  Tosefta,  Horajoth,  fin.,  where  it  is  stated  that  a  ICC'D  t^N"l  is  higher  in 
point  of  rank  than  a  2X  ri^3  tJ'i*")-  Again,  "iDtJ'D  is  also  met  with  in  Sid-fca 
V.  6-8,  Taanith  iv.  2,  and  Tamid  v.  1,  undoubtedly  in  the  sense  of  "  main 
division,"  or  "  division  for  a  week's  service."     But  it  is  also  to  be  similarly 


§  24     THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP.        221 

themselves.  For  as  lo:;'»  may  mean  any  division  for  service, 
so  2S  JT'S,  on  the  other  hand,  may  mean  any  body  composed  of 
the  members  of  the  same  family,  no  matter  whether  they 
consist  of  few  persons  or  of  many.^*  Accordingly,  as  we  have 
just  remarked,  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Chronicles  is  still 
found  to  be  making  use  of  ninx  n"'3  (in  Neh.  xii.  12  shortened 
into  nnx)  as  one  of  his  expressions  for  denoting  the  main 
divisions  or  courses.  But  it  would  appear  that  somewhat  later 
the  distinction  referred  to  above  came  to  be  rigidly  observed. 
In  Greek  the  term  for  one  of  the  main  divisions  is  Trarpid  or 
i^TjfiepM  or  i(f)r]/jLepL^,  and  for  one  of  the  sub-divisions  (pvXi].^ 
Then  each  of  the  divisions,  the  principal  and  subordinate 
ones  alike,  was  presided  over  by  a  head.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment the  heads  of  the  main  divisions  are  designated  cnb* 
(princes)  ^^  or  D^^N")  (heads).^®  At  a  subsequent  period  this 
latter  ("lOtJ^n  B'Ki)  seems  to  have  become  the  current  designa- 
tion, just  as  nx  n'^2  :^•X"l  ^^  came  to  be  the  one  regularly  employed 
to  denote  the  head  of  a  sub-division.  Then,  besides  these, 
we  sometimes  come  across  the  term  "elders"  in  this  connection, 
the  n:in3  "-ipr  and  the  3k  IT'S  ""jpT.^^ 

understood  in  Bikkurim  iii.  12  ;  Jcbamoth  xi.  7,  ßn. ;  Baha  kamma  ix.  12  ; 
Tcmnra  iii.  4,  and  Para  iii.  ßn.  2S  n"'3,  on  the  other  hand,  occurs  in  the 
sense  of  a  sub-division  or  a  division  for  one  day's  service,  in  Joma  iii.  9, 
iv.  1  ;   Tamid  i.  1 ;  Middoth  i.  8. 

^*  See  Knobel-Dillmaun,  Exegetisches  Handbuch,  note  on  Ex.  vi.  14  (p.  58). 

"*  TUTptd.,  Joseph.  Antt.  vii.  14.  7  ;  lfr,fiipix,  Luke  i.  5,  8 ;  i(f:nf/.ipi;  and 
((iVh'/i,  Joseph.  17/«,  1  (see  the  quotation  given  above,  note  29).  We  find 
mention  made  of  a  (fv'hTi  ^Eviuxiif^  in  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  3.  8. 

'*  D''3n3n  ''"itj',  Ezra  viii.  24,  29,  x.  5  ;   2  Chrou.  xxxvi.  14.      tHp  '*"lt;'> 

1  Chron.  xxiv.  5.     That  those  D^'i'tJ'  are  identical  witli  the  DUX  ^L"N1  naay 

be  seen,  above  all,  from  1  Chron.  xv.  4-12,  where  both  expressions  are 
employed,  as  being  perfectly  synonymous,  to  denote  the  heads  of  the 
Levitical  divisions. 

^^'  n"l3S-n''3^  D''K'X1,  1  Chron.  xxiv.  4.  ni3Kn  "•U'«"!,  Neh.  xii.  12; 
1  Chron.  xxiv.  6.     Comp,  also  Neh.  xi.  13,  xii.  7. 

^^  notion  t'XI  and  3X  n'3  CX"li  Tosefta,  I{orajoth,ßn.,  ed.  Zuckcmiandol, 
p.  476  ;  and  Jcr.  HorajotU  iii.  fol.  48'^  (the  latter  passage  being  given  in 
Ugolini,  Thesaurus,  xiii.  870).  "iDt^'on  :^'X^  also  in  the  passage  quoted 
above,  p.  182.     3X  n^3  t^'X"^,  Joma  iii.  9,  iv.  1. 

^*  njina  ^ipT,  Joma  L  5.     3N  n^3  ^JpT,  Tamid  i.  1 ;  Middoth  I  8. 


222         §  24.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

The  importance  and  influence  of  the  various  divisions  was  by 
no  means  alike.  Notwithstanding  their  formal  equality,  in  so 
far  as  they  all  took  part  in  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  in 
regular  rotation,  still  those  divisions,  from  the  members  of 
which  high  priests  or  other  influential  functionaries  were 
selected,  could  not  fail  to  acquire,  in  consequence,  a  greater 
amount  of  influence  and  importance.  Hence  we  can  quite 
believe  that,  as  Josephus  assures  us,  it  was  regarded  as  a  great 
advantage  to  belong  to  the  first  of  the  twenty-four  classes,^^  i.e. 
to  the  class  Joiarib,  which  had  the  honour  of  contributing  the 
Asmonaean  princes  and  high  priests.*"  Then  we  find  that 
within  the  individual  classes  again  influential  coteries  were 
formed.  The  families  living  in  Jerusalem  would  no  doubt 
understand  how  to  secure  for  members  of  their  own  circle  the 
most  important  offices  about  the  temple,  knowing  as  they  did 
how  much  influence  they  conferred  upon  those  who  filled  them. 
But  it  was  in  the  Eoman  period  above  all  that  the  privileged 
families  from  which  the  high  priests  were  drawn  (see  p.  173, 
above)  were  found  to  constitute  a  proud  aristocracy,  claiming 
to  occupy  a  rank  much  superior  to  that  of  the  ordinary 
priests.  The  social  difference  between  the  one  circle  and  the 
other  was  so  marked  that,  toward  the  close  of  the  period  just 
preceding  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  the  high  priests  could 
even  go  the  length  of  wresting  the  tithes  from  the  other  priests 
by  violence,  these  latter  being  left  to  starve.*^  As  a  conse- 
quence of  this  disparity  of  rank,  their  political  sympathies 
were  also  so  widely  different  that,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  revolu- 
tion, the  ordinary  priests  favoured  this  movement,  whereas  the 
high  priests  did  everything  in  their  power  to  allay  the  storm. 

23  Vita.,  1 :  'TTo'h'Kvi  U  xxv  roinu  hccipop»  =  "  there  is  a  great  advantage 
also  in  this." 

*o  One  feels  tempted  to  assume  that  the  lists  in  Chronicles  (1  Chron. 
xxiv.  7-18)  were  not  framed  till  the  Asmonaean  period.  For  it  is  surely 
very  strange  that  it  is  precisely  the  class  Joiarib,  from  which  the  Asmo- 
naeans  were  sprung,  that  is  here  put  prominently  at  the  top,  while  in 
the  lists  given  in  Nehemiah  (xii.  1-7,  12-21)  it  occupies  a  somewhat 
subordinate  place. 

"  Joseph.  Anit.  xx.  8.  8,  9.  2.  *^  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  2-4. 


§  24.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        223 

We  must  be  careful  to  distinguish  between  the  priests  properly 
so  called  and  the  Levitcs,  a  subordinate  class  of  sacred  officials." 
It  is  true,  no  doubt,  that  this  distinction  is  as  yet  unknown  to 
the  Book  of  Deuteronomy.  There  the  Levites  are  all  regarded 
as  being  as  much  entitled  to  share  in  the  priestly  functions  as 
the  rest,  and  "  priests  "  and  "  Levites  "  are  made  use  of  simply 
as  convertible  terras  (see  especially,  Deut.  xviii.  5,  xxi.  5  ;  and 
generally,  xvii.  9,  18,  xviii.  1,  xxiv.  8,  xxvii.  9).  The  practice 
of  distinguishing  between  the  two  orders  is  met  with  for  the 
first  time  in  Ezekiel ;  and  there  can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  that 
it  was  precisely  this  prophet  who  was  the  first  to  introduce  it. 
According  to  the  legislation  of  Deuteronomy,  all  places  of 
worship  outside  Jerusalem  were  to  be  suppressed.  At  the 
same  time  the  "  Levites "  who  officiated  in  them,  i.e.  the 
priests,  were  not  deprived  of  their  rights  as  such ;  all  that  was 
asked  of  them  was  that  they  should  exercise  their  priestly 
functions  exclusively  in  Jerusalem.  This  state  of  things 
however  could  hardly  be  expected  to  last  long,  In  the  first 
place  it  was  too  much  to  expect  that  the  Jerusalem  priests 
would  long  relish  the  idea  of  those  colleagues  from  the  pro- 
vinces having  the  same  right  to  officiate  as  themselves ;  but 
apart  from  this,  there  was  the  fact  that  they  had  been  guilty, 
to  a  larger  extent  than  the  priests  of  Jerusalem,  of  blending 
the  service  of  strange  gods  with  the  worship  of  Jehovah. 
Consequently  Ezekiel  now  proceeded  to  push  the  state  of 
things  brought  about  by  the  Deuteronomist  to  what  seemed 
to  be  its  legitimate  result :  he  prohibited  the  Levites  from 
beyond  Jerusalem  from  celebrating  worship  altogether.  This 
was  now  to  be  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  Levites  of  the 
house  of  Zadok,  i.e.  of  the  Jerusalem  priests.  Hereafter  none 
but  the  sons  of  Zadok  were  "  to   offijr  the  fat  and  the   blood 

^3  See  in  general,  Winer's  Reahcörlerh.  ii.  20  ff.  Oehler's  art.  "  Levi,"  in 
lierzog's  lical-Encycl,  1st  ed.  vol.  viii.  347-358  (in  the  2nd  ed.  it  is  revised 
by  Orelli).  Graf,  Zur  Geschichte  </«  Stammes  Lcvi^  in  Merx'  Archiv,  vol.  i. 
Idem,  art.  "Levi,"  in  Sclicnkel's  Bihelkxicon,  iv.  29-32.  'Wcllhausen, 
Geschichte,  i.  123-156.  Smend,  E.a;/ft.  Ilandlnich  zu  Ezekiel,  pp.  3G0-362. 
Dillmann,  Exeget.  Handbuch  zu  Exodus  und  Leviticus,  pp.  155-401. 


224        §  2i.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

before  God,"  that  is  to  say,  none  but  these  were  to  minister  at 
the  altar  or  cross  the  threshold  of  the  inner  sanctuary  (the 
temple  proper).  To  the  other  Levites  the  more  subordinate 
class  of  duties  was  assigned,  viz.  the  keeping  watch  over  the 
temple,  the  slaughtering  of  the  victims,  and  such  like.  An 
arrangement  such  as  this  had,  at  the  same  time,  this  further 
advantage,  that  it  was  now  possible  entirely  to  dispense  with 
those  Gentiles  whom  it  had  been  necessary  to  employ  for  the 
purpose  of  performing  the  more  menial  services  connected 
with  the  temple  (see  in  general,  Ezek.  xliv.  6-16).  The  order 
of  things  thus  introduced  by  Ezekiel  was  the  one  that  in  all 
essential  respects  came  to  be  permanently  adopted.  The 
distinction  which  he  had  established  between  priests  and  the 
other  Levites  is  treated  in  the  code  of  the  priests  as  one  that 
had  already  come  to  be  regularly  recognised.  In  this  code 
the  distinction  between  "  the  sons  of  Aaron,"  i.e.  the  priests, 
and  the  rest  of  the  Levites,  is  rigidly  observed.  According  to 
its  enactments  it  is  only  the  former  who  are  to  enjoy  the 
right  of  ministering  at  the  altar  and  within  the  sanctuary 
itself  (Num.  xviii.  7).  The  Levites,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
merely  to  act  as  assistants  to  the  sons  of  Aaron  "  in  all  the 
service  of  the  tabernacle"  (Num.  xviii.  4).  Accordingly, 
what  they  are  allowed  and  are  called  upon  to  do  is  to  help  the 
priests  by  performing  a  great  many  duties  and  services  of  the 
most  varied  character  in  connection  with  the  temple,  such  as 
taking  charge  of  the  revenues  and  the  sacred  property,  the 
bringing  forward  and  preparing  of  all  the  different  materials 
required  for  the  celebration  of  worship,  and  others  of  a  like 
nature  (for  more  on  this  matter,  see  Part  III.).  We  also  find 
that  the  duty  of  slaughtering  and  further  preparing  the  victims 
was  still  assigned  to  them  in  later  times  precisely  as  it  had 
been  in  that  of  Ezekiel."     Only  they  were   debarred  from 

4*  2  Chron.  xxix.  34,  xxxv.  11.  Certainly  from  those  passages  one  might 
infer  that  the  Levites  were  called  upon  to  assist  in  the  slaughtering  of  the 
victims  only  in  those  instances  in  which  a  great  many  of  them  had  to  be 
dealt  with.     As  a  rule  the  priests  performed  the  act  of  slaughtering  the 


§  24.    THE  PPJESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP.         225 

taking  part  in  the  ministrations  at  the  altar  and  witliin  the 
walls  of  the  sanctuary  (Num.  xviii.  3  ;  see  in  general,  Num. 
iii.  5-13  and  xviii.  1-7). 

Then,  like  the  priests,  the  Zevites  came  to  form  a  strictly 
exclusive  order,  the  privilege  of  belonging  to  which  was  based 
upon  natural  descent.  Their  origin  was  now  ascribed  to  Levi, 
one  of  the  twelve  patriarchs  of  Israel  (Ex,  vi.  17-25; 
Num,  iii.  14-39,  iv,  34-49,  xxvi,  57-62  ;  1  Chron.  v.  27- 
VL  66,  and  xxiii.).  Consequently  in  their  case  too  as  well 
as  that  of  the  priests  it  was  birth  that  decided  the  claim  to 
participation  in  the  rights  and  functions  of  their  order.  The 
"  priests  "  stood  to  them  very  much  in  tlie  relation  in  which 
a  privileged  family  stands  to  the  whole  stock  to  which  it 
belongs.  For  the  origin  of  the  priestly  order  now  came  to  be 
ascribed  to  Aaron,  a  great-grandson  of  Levi  (Ex.  vi.  17  it).*^ 

But  there  is  nothing  that  shows  so  plainly  as  just  the 
history  of  the  Levites  itself  how  elastic  and  unsubstantial 
those  genealogical  theories  were.  In  the  post-exilic  period, 
for  example,  we  find  that  the  "  Levites,"  in  the  sense  in  which 
the  term  has  been  hitherto  understood,  were  still  strictly 
distinguished  from  the  musicians,  doorkeepers  and  temj^lc 
servants  (Xethinim,  originally,  at  all  events,  slaves) ;  this 
continues  to  be  the  case  therefore  not  merely  in  the  time  of 

victims  themselvei'.  However,  the  law  even  went  so  far  as  to  allow  laymen 
to  undertake  this  duty.  See  Frankel,  Uebcr  den  Einßiiss  der  pedästinischen 
Exegese  auf  die  alexandrinische  Hermeneutik  (1851),  p.  134,  Hitter's  Philo 
und  die  Halacha,  p.  110  fF. 

■'^  The  genealogical  derivation  of  the  priests  from  Aaron  is,  in  the  first 
instance,  merely  a  dogmatic  postulate  from  which  nothing  whatever  can 
be  inferred  with  regard  to  the  actual  state  of  matters  during  the  post-exilic 
period.  Still  it  is  undoulitedly  a  probable  enough  thing  that,  besides  the 
'•sons  of  Zadok,"  i.e.  the  old  priestly  families  of  Jerusalem,  there  were 
also  a  number  of  others  who  were  not  originally  Jerusalem  jiriests,  who 
contrived  to  get  their  sacerdotal  rights  duly  recognised.  For  the  author 
of  Chronicles,  who  traces  the  family  of  Zadok  to  Eleazar,  Aaron's  eldest 
son  (1  Chron.  vi.  4-12),  derives  a  portion  of  the  priests  from  Ithamar, 
another  of  Aaron's  sons  (1  Chron.  xxiv. ;  comp.  Ezra  viii.  2).  These  latter 
therefore  were  not  Zadokites,  Consequently  we  must  assunie  that,  allhoiii/h 
Ezekiel's  scheme  was  carried  out  tn  the  main,  .'<tiU  it  icas  not  so  in  every 
particular.  Comp.  Wellhausen,  Die  Pharisäer  und  die  Sadducäer,  p,  48, 
DIV,  II.  VOL.  I.  P 


226         §  -24.    THE  PPJESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP. 

Zerubbabel,  but  also  between  eighty  and  a  hundred  years 
later,  viz.  in  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  (see  especially 
Ezra  ii.  40-58  ^N'eh.  vii.  43-60;  further  Ezra  ii.  70,  vii.  7, 
24,  X.  23,  24;  Neh.  vii.  1,  73,  x.  29,  40,  xii.  44-47,  xiii. 
0,  10).  But  gradually  the  musicians  and  the  doorkeeijers 
came  to  be  included  among  the  "  Levites  "  also.  For  example, 
the  circumstance  of  the  musicians  being  now  merged  in  the 
Levites  is  presupposed  in  several  remodelled  portions  of  the 
Book  of  Nehemiah.*^  Later  on,  a  similar  distinction  seems 
to  have  been  accorded  to  the  doorkeepers  as  well,  for  we 
find  the  author  of  Chronicles  taking  special  pains  to  let  it 
appear  that  both  of  the  classes  here  in  question  belonged  to 
the  order  of  the  Levites,  and  also  to  show  that  they  too  were 
descended  from  Levi.*'  The  musicians  again  were  afterwards 
advanced  a  step  higher  still,  in  so  far  as,  shortly  before  the 
destruction  of  the  temple,  King  Agrippa  IL,  with  the  con- 
currence of  the  Sanhedrim,  conferred  upon  them  the  privilege 
of  wearing  linen  robes  similar  to  those  worn  by  the  priests.** 

The  Levites,  like  the  priests,  were  also  divided  into  courses 
of  service.  But  their  history  is  involved  in  still  greater  obscurity 
than  that  of  the  courses  of  the  priests.  Among  those  who 
returned  from  exile  with  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua  there  were 
but  very  few  "  Levites  "  in  the  stricter  sense  of  the  word,  only 

^^  Neh.  xi.  15-19,  22,  23,  xii.  8,  9,  24,  25,  27-29.  Here  the  musicians 
are  uniformly  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  order  of  the  Levites,  while  the 
doorkeepers,  on  the  other  hand,  are  expressly  excluded  from  it.  Conse- 
quently the  portions  in  question  (Neh.  xi.,  xii.)  must  have  come  down  to 
us  in  a  revised  form,  representing  a  point  of  view  intermediate  between 
the  standpoint  of  the  oldest  sources  of  the  Book  of  Nehemiah  on  the  one 
side,  and  that  of  the  author  of  Chronicles  on  the  other. 

*''  On  the  inclusion  of  the  musicians  among  the  Levites,  see  1  Chron. 
XV.  16  ff.,  xxiii.  3-5  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  25,  and  elsewhere.  For  the  door- 
keepers again,  see  1  Chron.  ix.  26,  xv.  18,  23,  24,  xxiii.  3-5.  Further,  for 
the  tracing  of  their  descent  from  Levi,  particularly  in  the  case  of  the  three 
families  of  musicians,  Heman,  Asaph  and  Ethan,  see  1  Chi'on.  vi.  16-32 ; 
but  for  the  same  in  the  case  of  the  doorkeepers  as  well,  at  least  to 
a  certain  extent,  viz.  through  Obed  Edora,  see  Graf  in  Merx'  Archiv,  i. 
230-232.  However,  it  is  still  the  practice  in  the  Chronicles  as  well  to 
distinguish  between  the  Nethinim  and  the  Levites,  1  Chron.  ix.  2. 

■*®  Joseph.  Antt  xx.  9.  6. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         227 

seventy-four  in  all;  while  in  addition  to  these  there  were  128 
singers  and  139  doorkeepers  (Ezra  ii.  40-42,  the  niimhers  in 
the  corresponding  passage,  Neh.  vii.  43—45,  diverging  some- 
what from  those  just  given).  Then  at  length  when  Ezra  came 
he  managed  to  bring  with  him  only  thirty-eight  "  Levites,"  and 
even  these  could  he  persuaded  to  accompany  liim  only  after 
serious  expostulation  (Ezra  viii.  15-20).  The  disinclination 
to  return  thus  shown  by  tlie  Levites  was  owing  to  the  sub- 
ordinate place  that  had  now  been  assigned  them.  It  may  be 
safely  assumed  however  that  those  who  did  return  would  ere 
long  receive  considerable  accessions  to  their  ranks  from  those 
of  their  order  that  had  never  left  their  native  country.  For 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that,  as  the  "  Levites  lived  scattered 
all  over  the  land,  far  fewer  of  them,  comparatively  speaking, 
were  carried  into  captivity  than  of  the  "  })riests,"  by  whom 
at  that  time  only  the  priests  of  Jerusalem  were  meant.  And 
hence  we  are  enabled  to  account  for  the  fact  that,  in  the 
catalogue  of  Levites  and  singers  in  the  time  of  Zerubbabel 
and  Joshua  as  given  in  Neh.  xii.  8,  we  find  a  few  more 
families  than  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  catalogue  of  those 
who  returned  with  Zerubbabel  (Ezraii.  40  f.;  Neh.  vii.  43  f.).*" 
In  a  list  belonging  to  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  seven- 
teen families  of  Levites  in  the  stricter  sense  of  the  word  are 
already  enumerated  (Neh.  x.  10-14  and  Bertheau's  note). 
In  another,  probably  referring,  like  the  former,  to  the 
time  of  Nehemiah  as  well,*"  it  is  only  the  number  of  the 
Levites  dwelling  in  Jerusalem  that  is  given,  inclusive  of 
course  of  the  singers,  and  it  estimates  that  there  were  284 
of  them  (Neh.  xi.  15-18).  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the 
number  of  those  who  lived  beyond  the  city,  in  the  towns 
and  villages  of  Judaea,  would  be  considerably  larger  (Neh. 
xi.  20,  36).'^     It  would  appear  that,  in  the  time  of  the  author 

*'  See  Bertheau's  uote,  p.  1^51,  of  liis  Excfjct.  Handbuch  to  Nehemiab. 
*"  On  the  period  to  which  this  list  refers,  see  Bertheau's  Exeget.  Hand- 
buck  to  Chronicles,  p.  99  ;  to  Nehemiah.  p.  248. 
*^  The  number  of  prksts  living  in  Jerusalem  is  stated  in  this  same  list 


228         §  24.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP. 

of  Chronicles,  the  division  into  twenty-four  classes  was  not 
confined  to  the  priests,  but  had  been  adopted  in  the  case  of 
the  Levites  as  well.  This  writer,  although  including  the 
musicians  and  doorkeepers  among  the  Levites,  nevertheless 
distinguishes  between  three  leading  groups :  the  Levites  who 
did  service  about  the  temple  generally,  then  the  musicians, 
and  lastly  the  doorkeepers  (1  Chron.  xxiii.  3-5).  He  then 
proceeds  in  1  Chron.  xxiii.  6-24  to  give,  in  the  case  of  the 
Levites  or  first  group,  a  list  of  the  houses  of  their  fathers 
(dux  JT'n),  which,  after  one  or  two  corrections  have  been  made, 
probably  amount  to  twenty-four.^^  As  for  the  musicians 
again,  he  expressly  divides  them  into  twenty-four  classes  or 
courses  (1  Chron.  xxv.).  With  regard  to  the  post- Biblical 
period  we  have  testimony  to  the  effect  that  at  that  time  the 
division  now  in  question  had  been  regularly  established  in 
the  case  of  the  Levites  generally,  so  that,  in  fact,  each 
class  of  priests  had  now  its  corresponding  class  or  course  of 
Levites.^'     As  in  the  case  of  the  priests,  so  also  in  that  of 

to  have  been  1192  (Neh.  xi.  10-14),  while  the  aggregate  number  then 
living  throughout  the  whole  land  is  estimated  at  6000  (according  to  Ezra 
ii.  36-39  and  viii.  2  ;  comp.  p.  217,  above).  With  regard  to  the  Levites,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  may  venture  to  assume  that  formerly  the  proportion  of 
those  living  beyond  Jerusalem  to  those  living  within  it  was  much  greater 
still.  In  any  case  the  number  of  the  Levites  in  the  stricter  sense  of  the 
word  must  have  exceeded  that  of  the  singers  and  doorkeepers.  For  when 
the  author  of  Chronicles  tells  us  that  in  David's  time  there  were  24,000 
Levites  properly  so  called,  and  4000  singers,  and  4000  doorkeepers  (1  Chron. 
xxiii.  4,  5),  we  may  assume  that  the  relative  proportions  of  those  numbers 
must  have  pretty  nearly  corresponded  with  what  actually  existed  in  the 
writer's  own  day,  however  much  the  absolute  numbers  themselves  may 
have  been  exaggerated. 

^2  See  Bertheau's  note  on  the  passage.  To  the  family  of  Gerson  are 
assigned  nine  houses  of  their  fathers,  to  that  of  Kahat  nine  also,  and  to 
that  of  Merari  probably  six,  if,  that  is  to  say,  we  supply  from  xxiv.  26,  27 
the  three  missing  houses  of  Schoham,  Sakkur  and  Ibri,  and  erase  from 
xxiii.  23  the  name  Älahli  which  occurs  twice  in  the  list. 

^^  Joseph.  Antt.  vii.  14.  7  :  i'Troims  of  y,a.l  -rii;  AiviriZd;  Cpv'hvii  UKoat  yJpyi 
Kctl  rsaaxp»,  aetl  xywipuax/nivcdv  y.XTSi  to»  oivtov  oivißri(jXi/  rpÖTrou  roug  ruu 
hpiuu  i(pnfAipiaiv  iTTt  i],uip»i  öktü.  Taanith  iv.  2:  "  The  earliest  prophets 
established  twenty-four  courses  of  service  (mifDi^'O)-  To  each  belonged  a 
staff  (id>'D)  in  Jerusalem,  composed  of  priests,  Levites  and  Israelites.     As 


§  24.    THE  rJMESTIIOOD  AM)  THE  TEMPLE  "WORSIIir.        220 

the  Levites,  each  of  il\e  various  divisions  or  courses  was 
presided  over  by  a  head  (n'^f^  or  D'-tr«-))/* 

The  question  as  to  wliere  the  priests  and  Levites  resided  is 
one  with  regard  to  which  we  have  very  little  information  of 
a  reliable  kind ;  for  we  must  here  entirely  dismiss  from  view 
the  legislation  with  reference  to  the  forty-eight  Levitical  cities, 
which  never  was  more  tlian  a  mere  theory  (Num.  xxxv. ; 
Josh.  xxi.).  One  thing  however  is  certain,  and  that  is,  that 
under  the  new  order  of  things  that  obtained  subsequent  to 
the  exile,  only  a  fraction  of  the  priests  and  Levites  lived  in 
Jerusalem  itself,  while  the  rest  were  scattered  over  the  towns 
and  villages  of  Judaea,  the  majority  of  them  being  probably 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  capital  and  the  centre  of 
worship.  In  the  list  in  Neh.  xi.  10-19,  to  whicli  reference 
has  been  already  made,  the  number  of  priests  who  lived  in 
Jerusalem  is  stated  to  have  been  1192,*^  that  of  the  Levites 
and  musicians  284,  and  that  of  the  doorkeepers  172.  But 
the  sum-total  of  the  whole  priests  of  the  land  amounted  to 
something  like  five  times  tliat  number,  if  not  more  (see 
note  51),  while  in  the  case  of  the  other  categories  the  pro- 
portion of  those  living  beyond  the  city  to  those  within  it 
may  have  been  greater  still.  In  any  case,  the  general  fact 
that  priests  as  well  as  Levites  had  their  residences  in  the 
towns  and  villages  of  Judaea  is  confirmed  by  repeated  and 
unquestionable  testimony.'^  But  we  are  left  with  little  or  no 
information  with  respect  to  details.^' 

soon  as  its  turn  to  serve  came  round  to  a  course,  the  priests  and  Levites  belong- 
ing to  it  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  but  the  Israelites  assembled  in  the  syna- 
gogues of  their  different  towns  and  there  read  the  account  of  the  creation." 

**  D^'J'.  1  Chron.  xv.  4-12  ;  2  Chrou.  xxxv.  9.  D'CS"1.  N^eh.  xii.  22,  23  ; 
1  Ciiron.  ix.  33,  34,  xv.  12,  xxiii.  24,  xxiv.  6,  31.  The  divisions  whose 
heads  are  here  in  question  are,  of  course,  separate  and  disiinet  from  each 
other. 

^*  The  parallel  passage,  1  Chron.  ix.  10-13,  puts  it  at  a  somewhat  higher 
figure. 

^8  Ezra  ii.  70;  Neh.  vii.  73,  xi.  3,  20,  3G ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  15,  19. 

^^  A  number  of  places  where  musicians  had  settled  are  mentioned  in 
Neh.  xii,  27-29.  The  Maccabees  came  from  Modein  (1  Mace.  ii.  1), 
Zacharias   the   priest  lived   in  the  hill   country  of  Judah  (Luke  i.  39). 


230         §  24.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 
II.    THE  EMOLUMENTS. 

The  emoluments  which  the  priests  received  from  the  people 
for  their  subsistence  were,  down  to  the  time  of  the  exile,  of 
a  very  modest  and  rather  precarious  kind.  But  subsequent 
to  this  latter  period  they  were  augmented  almost  beyond 
measure.  This  fact  enables  us  to  see,  in  a  peculiarly  striking 
manner,  what  a  vast  increase  of  power  and  influence  the 
priesthood  had  acquired  through  the  new  order  of  things  that 
was  introduced  subsequent  to  the  exile.^*  And  this  increase 
■of  power  was,  no  doubt,  the  cause  of  the  loftier  pretensions 
of  the  order,  just  as,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  in  turn  also 
the  effect  of  the  augmenting  of  tlie  temporalities.  Nor  was 
it  ever  in  the  power  of  the  scribes,  who  came  after  and  who 
in  themselves  were  not  always  favourably  disposed  toward 
the  priests,  to  do  anything  in  the  way  of  altering  this  state 
of  matters,  now  that  tlie  priestly  law  had  been  for  so  long 
the  acknowledged  law  of  God.  Nay,  it  was  for  this  very 
reason  that  the  scribes  only  found  themselves  in  the  position 
of  contributing  towards  the  yet  further  increase  of  the  priests' 
emoluments.  For  proceeding  as  they  did  on  the  view  that  a 
man  always  secured  for  himself  the  divine  approval  in  pro- 
portion to  the  punctuality  and  readiness  with  which  he  con- 
formed to  the  requirements  of  the  law,  they  almost  invariably 
interpreted  its  prescriptions  in  a  sense  favourable  to  the 
priests.  And  so  we  have  the  singular  spectacle  of  an  age 
that  had  already  begun  to  regard  the  priests  with  distrust, 
helping  nevertheless  to  confirm  and  increase  their  power. 

In  the  times  previous  to  the  exile  there  were  as  yet  almost 
no  imposts  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  at  all,  that  is  to 
say,  none  which  were  not  connected  with  sacrifice,  none  whicli 

According  to  Origen,  Bethphage  was  a  village  where  priests  lived,  Comment, 
in  Matt.  vol.  xvi.  cap.  xvii.  (Lommatzscli,  iv.  52)  :  tpiA.nvi\Jiadoi,i  3s  <pu(^iv  r^v 
Täri6((:ci'/yi  (Aiv  oix.0»  atuyovuv,  'i)Tig  ruu  ispiuv  ^u  x'^P^^"- 

^^  For  a  correct  appreciation  of  these  matters  we  are  indebted  first  and 
foremost  to  the  modern  criticism  of  the  Pentateuch.  See  especially,  Well- 
hauseu's  Gcschiclite  Israels,  i.  156-164. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        231 

had  the  character  of  a  pure  tax.     Allowances  to  the  priests  were 

only  exacted  on  the  occasion  of  sacrifices  being  offered,  and 

only  in  connection   with   these.      The    person  who   came  to 

sacrifice  brought  the  choicest  portions  of  the  produce  of  his 

fields  and  the  first-born   of    his   cattle  to   offer  to  Jehovah. 

Of  this  one  part  was  consumed  upon  the  altar,  another  fell  to 

the  officiating  priest,  but  the  most  of  it  was  made  use  of  by  the 

offerer  himself,  who  was  required  to  hold  a  sacrificial  feast  with 

it  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah.      It  is  in  this  sense  that  we  are 

to  understand  the  requirement  already  met  with  in  tlte  earliest 

(Jehovistic)  legislation,  to  the  effect  that  the  best  of  the  produce 

of  the  field  and  the  first-born  of  the  cattle  were  to  be  brought 

before  Jehovah  (firstlings  of  the  field,  Ex.  xxii.  28,  xxiii.  19, 

xxxiv,  26;  the  first-born  of  the  cattle,  Ex.  xiii.  11-16,  xxii.  29, 

xxxiv.  19,  20).^*^^     The  prescriptions  in  Deuteronomy  bearing 

on  this  matter  are  perfectly  plain  and  unequivocal.    This  book 

knows  nothing  whatever  either  of  the  exacting  of  the  tithe,  or 

of  the  first-born  on  the  part  of  the  priests.    It  was  required  no 

doubt  that  the  tithe  of  the  fruits  of  the  field  was  to  be  separated 

and  conveyed  to  Jerusalem  to  the  sanctuary.      But  there  it 

was  not  given  to  the  priest,  but  consumed  by  the  owner  of  it 

himself ;  and  it  was  only  every  third  year  that  it  fell  to  the 

Levites,  i.e.  the  priests,  and  to  the  poor  (Deut.  xiv.  22-29, 

xxvi.  12-15  ;  comp,  also  xii.  6,  11,  17-19).      It  was  precisely 

the  same  in  the  case  of  the  firstlings  of  the  sheep  and  oxen. 

These  too,  and  that  such  of  them  as  were  males,  were  required 

to  be  brought  to  the  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  but  they  were 

consumed  there  by  the  owner  himself  in  sacrificial  feasts  (Deut. 

XV.  19-23  ;  comp,  also  xii.  6,  17-19,  xiv.  23).     Of  all  the 

things  here  mentioned  the  priests  received  only  certain  portions, 

that  is  to  say,  of  the  fruits  of  the  field  that  were  presented  they 

got  only  the  ^T^"?.,  i-^-  the  best  (Deut.  xviii.  4,  xxvi.  1—11), 

^^^  The  more  subtle  point  as  to  whether  Ex.  xiii.  11-lG  and  xxxiv. 
19,  20  belong  to  the  Jehovist  himself  or  were  inserted  by  a  kindred  spirit, 
may  here  be  left  an  open  question.  For  the  latter  view,  see  Wellliausen, 
Jahrhiiclier  fur  deutsche  Thcol.  187(j,  pp.  5'12  ff.,  .553  ff . ;  for  the  former, 
see  Dillmanu,  Exeyct.  Handhuch  to  Ex.  and  Lev.  pp.  99,  334. 


232         §  24.    THE  PllIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

while  of  the  animals  offered,  they  got  merely  the  shoulder,  the 
two  cheeks  and  the  stomach  of  each  (Deut.  xviii.  3).  Beyond 
this  there  is  no  mention  of  anything  else  that  was  required  to 
be  given  to  the  priest  except  a  part  of  the  fleece  at  the  sheep- 
shearing  (Deut.  xviii.  4).  As  corroborative  of  what  we  have 
been  saying  we  would  point  to  the  prescriptions  of  Ezekiel 
(xliv.  28-30).  Although  a  priest  himself  and  showing  an 
undoubted  disposition  to  favour  rather  than  to  discourage  the 
pretensions  of  his  order,  still  he  says  quite  as  little  about 
a  tithe  and  the  first-born  being  required  to  be  given  to 
the  priests.  The  claims  he  makes  on  behalf  of  these  latter 
are  no  doubt  somewhat  higher  than  those  of  Deuteronomy, 
still,  on  the  whole,  they  move  on  the  same  lines.  While 
Deuteronomy  assigns  to  the  priests  only  two  portions  of  the 
victims,  Ezekiel  requires  the  whole  of  the  sin-offerings  and 
trespass-offerings  (which  as  yet  are  quite  unknown  to 
Deuteronomy)  to  be  given  to  them,  and  similarly  with 
regard  to  the  meat-offerings  as  well  (Ezek.  xliv.  29);  also 
every  "dedicated  thing"  (xliv.  29);  and  lastly,  the  reshith, 
i.e.  the  best  of  the  first-fruits,  the  choicest  portions  of  offerings 
of  every  description,  and  of  the  dough  in  baking  (xliv.  30). 

But  we  find  a  considerable  advance  upon  all  the  exactions 
we  have  just  been  referring  to  when  we  come  to  those  contained 
in  the  priest-code,  which,  in  its  enumeration  of  the  various 
emoluments  of  the  priests  as  given  in  Num.  xviii.  8-32, 
coincides  in  many  respects  with  Ezekiel,  only  it  introduces  in 
addition  what  constitutes  a  most  important  innovation,  the 
tithe  and  the  first-born.  Like  Ezekiel,  the  priest-code  also 
assigns  the  sin-offerings,  the  trespass-offerings  and  the  meat- 
offerings, at  least  the  greater  portion  of  the  latter,  to  the 
priests  (Num.  xviii.  9,  10  ;  for  fuller  details,  see  Lev.  i.-vii.). 
Of  those  sacrifices  which  their  owners  themselves  were  at 
liberty  to  make  use  of  in  furnishing  the  sacrificial  feast  (the 
so-called  Q'P/?^  ""^TP),  the  priests  were  to  get  the  breast  and  the 
right  shoulder  (Lev.  vii.  30-34),  thus  obtaining  considerably 
choicer  portions  than  those  assigned  to  them  in  Deuteronomy. 


§  21.    THE  rPJESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  -WORSIIir.        233 

Again,  as  in  Ezekiel  so  also  in  the  priest-code,  the  priests 
are  to  get  everything  "dedicated"  (Num.  xviii.  14),  and  the 
choicest  portions  (the  reshith)  of  the  produce  of  the  soil :  tlie 
oil,  the  wine  and  the  wheat  (Xum.  xviii.  12).  But  to  the 
reshith,  the  first-fruits,  D'l^^s,  are  further  added  (Num. 
xviii.  13)  as  an  impost  of  a  different  sort;  then,  in  the  last 
place,  comes  the  most  important  item  of  all,  one  that  con- 
siderably exceeded  in  value  all  the  former  ones,  viz.  the  tithe 
(Num.  xviii.  20-32)  and  the  first-born  (Num.  xviii.  15-18). 
The  tithe  however  belonged,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the 
"  Levites,"  who  in  turn  were  required  to  pay  a  tenth  part  of 
it  to  the  priests.  With  regard  to  the  portion  of  the  dough 
that  was  to  be  given  to  the  priests,  though  omitted  in  the 
leading  enumeration  of  the  emoluments,  it  too  is  mentioned 
in  the  priest-code,  but  in  a  different  place  (Num.  xv.  17-21). 
We  find  that  in  Nehemiah's  day  those  enactments  were  ah'eady 
in  full  force.  According  to  Neh.  x,  3G-40,  it  was  already  the 
practice  at  that  time  for  the  priests  to  receive  the  first-fruits 
or  bikkurim  (x.  36),  the  choicest  portions  of  the  fruits  of  the 
soil,  which  here,  precisely  as  in  the  priest- code,  are  clearly 
distinguished  alike  from  the  first-fruits  and  the  tithe  (x.  38), 
then  the  tithe  after  the  manner  described  in  the  priest-code 
(x.  38-40),  then  the  first-born  (x.  37),  and  lastly,  the  portion 
of  the  dough  (x.  38).  By  the  titlie  here  we  are  always  to 
understand  the  tithe  of  the  fruits  of  the  ground  and  of  the 
trees.  But  there  is  one  passage  in  the  priest-code  where,  in 
addition  to  the  tithe  just  mentioned,  that  of  the  cattle  is  also 
exacted  (Lev.  xxvii.  32,  33).  But  it  may  well  be  presumed 
that  this  requirement,  standing  there  as  it  does  in  so  entirely 
isolated  a  fashion,  did  not  originally  form  part  of  the  code.'* 
It  would  seem  that  the  tithe  of  the  cattle  was  actually  exacted 
and  paid  in  the  time  of  the  author  of  Chronicles ;  or  possibly 
we  have  only  to  regard  it  as  forming  part  of  this  writer's 
conceptions  of  what  ought  to  be  (2  Chron.  xx.xi.  6).  In  post- 
al See  Wellhau.sen,  Jahrh.  für  deutsche  Theol.  1877,  p.  444  ;  aleo  hia 
Geschichte  Israels,  i.  162. 


234        §  -24.    THE  FKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

Biblical  times  the  whole  passage,  Lev.  xxvii.  30-33,  has  been 
understood  as  referring  to  a  tithe  in  the  sense  of  the  one 
demanded  by  Deuteronomy. 

The  legal  prescriptions  of  Deuteronomy  and  of  the  priests' 
code  have  not  only  been  blended  together  so  as  to  form  one 
whole  in  a  literary  sense,  but  they  would  also  appear  to  have 
been  combined  with  each  other  in  actual  practice.  Con- 
sequently we  find  that  the  law  m  its  later  developments  has 
considerably  augmented  the  already  heavy  imposts  of  the 
priest-code.  With  the  Levites'  tithe  of  this  code  there  was 
now  conjoined,  and  simply  as  "  a  second  tithe,''  the  one  pre- 
scribed in  Deuteronomy,  and  which  was  to  be  consumed  by 
the  owner  himself  before  Jehovah.  The  discrepancy  between 
the  prescriptions  of  the  code  and  those  of  Deuteronomy,  with 
respect  to  the  portions  of  the  victims  that  were  to  be  given  to 
the  priests,  was  now  got  rid  of  by  regarding  the  former  as 
referring  exclusively  to  the  victims  offered  in  sacrifice,  and  the 
latter  to  such  animals  as  were  slaughtered  for  ordinary  use. 
Of  the  former  of  these  the  priests,  according  to  Lev.  vii.  30-34, 
were  to  receive  the  breast  and  the  right  shoulder,  while  of  the 
latter  they  were  to  get,  according  to  Deut.  xviii.  3,  a  fore-leg, 
the  cheeks,  and  the  stomach.  Lastly,  to  all  the  imposts  of 
the  priest-code  there  was  further  added  the  portion  of  the 
fleece  at  the  sheep-shearing  as  prescribed  in  Deuteronomy 
(xviii.  4).  From  this  process  of  amalgamation  there  resulted 
the  following  list  of  the  priests'  emoluments,  which  we  may 
venture  to  regard  as  the  one  that  was  in  force  in  the  time 
of  Christ.'" 

""  Philo  already  gives  us  a  synopsis  in  his  treatise,  entitled  De  praemiis 
sacerdotum  et  honorihus  {0pp.  ed.  Mangey,  ii.  232-237)  ;  comp,  besides, 
Ritter's  Philo  und  die  Halacha,  1879,  pp.  114-126.  Further,  Josephus  in 
the  leading  passage  on  the  subject,  Anit.  iv.  4.  4,  with  which  iii.  9.  1-4 
(sacrificial  offerings)  and  iv  8.  22  (firstlings)  may  be  compared.  The 
Rabbinical  Avriters,  according  to  an  artificial  system  of  reckoning,  repre- 
sent the  various  sources  of  the  priests'  emoluments  as  having  amounted  to 
twenty-four  in  all  ;  see  Tosefta,  Challa  ii.  7-9  (ed.  Zuckermandel)  ;  Jcr. 
CJialla  iv.  _fin.  fol.  60b  ;  Bab.  Bala  kamma  110b ,  CIndlin  133b ;  Pesikta  in 
Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xiii.  pp.  1122-1128.     Several  of  the  twenty-four  in 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP.         235 

(I.)  Of  the  victims  the  following  portions  fell  to  the  priests: 
— (1)  The  sin-offerings  in  their  entirety,  at  least  as  a  rule, 
for  only  two,  and  that  of  a  particular  sort,  were  required  to 
be  burnt  without  the  camp."^  (2)  The  trespass-offerings  in 
their  entirety  also.^^  In  both  instances  it  was  only  the  fat 
that  was  burnt  upon  the  altar,  the  flesh  belonged  to  the 
priests.  (3)  Of  the  meat-offerings  again  they  got  by  far  the 
larger  portion,  for  as  a  rule  only  a  small  part  of  it  was 
reserved  to  burn  upon  the  altar,  while  the  rest  fell  to  the 
priests."*  All  the  sacrifices  we  have  just  mentioned  were  of 
very  frequent  occurrence,  particularly  the  meat-offerings,  which 
miglit  not  only  be  offered  independently  by  themselves,  but 
which  also  formed  a  necessary  accompaniment  to  the  majority 
of  the  animal  sacrifices.'""*  To  the  same  category  we  Imve 
i'urther  to  refer  (4)  the  twelve  cakes  of  shev)brcad,  a  fresh 
supply  of  which  was  placed  in  the  temple  every  week,  while 

question  are  already  enumerated  in  Mislina,  Challa  iv.  9.  For  the  Talmudic 
passages,  see  also  Reland's  Antiquilates  sacrae,  ii.  4.  11,  in  Bernard's  edition 
of  Josephus,  note  on  Antt.  iv.  4.  4,  and  in  Havercamp's  edition,  note  on  the 
same  passage ;  and  for  a  German  rendering  of  them,  Saalschütz,  Das  mosaisclie 
liecht,  i.  351.  Among,  modern  writers  the  most  complete  and  most  correct 
lists  comparatively  speaking  arc  given  by  Saalschütz,  Dax  mosaische  Recht, 
i.  o4o-353,  and  Haneberg,  Die  religiösen  AUerthümcr  der  Bibel,  pp.  565-582. 
Authentic  material  also  in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xiii.  1055—1129. 

«1  Lev.  V.  13,  vi.  19,  22  f. ;  Num.  xviii.  9,  10 ;  Ezek.  xliv.  29.  Joseph. 
Antt.  iii,  9.  3.  Sifra  to  Lev.  vi.  19  ff.,  in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xiii.  p. 
1071  ff.  For  the  sin-  and  trespass-offerings  generally,  see  Lev.  iv.-vii. 
Winer's  Realwörterh.  ii.  pp.  429-435. 

^-  Lev.  vii.  6,  7 ;  Num.  xviii.  9,  10 ;  Ezck.  xliv.  29.  Joseph.  Antt. 
iii.  9.  3 ;  Sifra  to  Lev.  vii.  6,  7,  in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  xiii.  1078. 

«"  Lev.  ii.  3,  10,  vi.  9-11,  vii.  9,  10,  14,  x.  12,  13  ;  Num.  xviii.  9,  10; 
Ezek.  xliv.  29.  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  9.  4 :  rvjv  oi  Xfji-rrrtv  o/  iipü;  -Trpo;  rpo^Yiv 
'Act/aßüvovaiy,  »j  i\py,äii(!ccv  (tT^xio)  ycip  tJVf<.Tri(fiipx7U()  j;  yivof^ivui/  oipruv.  On 
the  nieat-offeriugs  generally,  see  Lev.  ii.  the  whole  cliapter,  and  vi.  7--11, 
also  Winer's  Realwörterh.  under  the  word. 

^^*  If  we  want  to  form  some  idea  of  the  frequency  of  many  of  those 
sacrifices,  we  have  only  to  read  the  laws  relating  toLcvitical  defilement  and 
the  mode  of  treating  it  with  a  view  to  its  removal  (Lev.  xi.-xv. ;  Num.  xix.). 
For  example,  every  woman  after  childbirth  had  to  offer  a  lamb  as  a  burnt- 
offering  and  a  pigeon  as  a  sin-offering,  or  in  the  event  of  her  being  too 
poor  for  this,  one  pigeon  as  a  burnt-offering  and  another  as  a  sin-offering, 
Lev.  xii.  1-8 ;  Luke  ii.  24. 


236         §  L>4.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

that  whicli  was  taken  away  became  the  property  of  the 
priests.^'*  All  the  four  classes  of  offerings  now  mentioned 
were  "  most  holy,"  and  as  such  could  only  be  consumed  in  a 
holy  place,  i.e.  within  the  inner  court  of  the  temple,  and 
exclusively  by  the  priests  themselves  (and  not  by  their 
relations  as  well).*"^ 

The  regulations  were  not  so  stringent  with  regard  to  the 
two  following  ofiferings,  viz.  (5)  the  thank- offerings  and  (6) 
the  burnt-offerings.  Of  the  former,  the  Q^Pfy'  ''^?],  i.e.  those 
offerings  which  were  consumed  by  the  offerers  themselves,  and 
by  Luther  rendered  "  Dankopfer,"  or  as  it  should  rather  be 
"  Mahlopfer,"  the  priests  received  two  parts  of  each,  viz.  the 
breast  and  the  right  shoulder.  These  might  be  eaten  in  any 
"  clean  place,"  and  therefore  not  within  the  sanctuary  as  in 
the  previous  instances,  and  that  not  by  the  priest  alone,  but 
by  all  who  were  connected  with  the  priestly  order  as  well, 
even  by  their  wives  and  daughters.*'''  Lastly,  of  the  burnt- 
offerings  (6),  the  priests  received  comparatively  speaking  least 
of  all,  for  they  were  entirely  consumed  upon  the  altar.  Eut 
even  of  these  they  got  the  skins  at  least,  and,  considering  how 
frequently  sacrifices  of  this  sort  were  offered,  it  was  certainly 
not  without  good  reason  that  Philo  estimated  the  amount  of 
revenue  from  this  source  also  as  something  very  considerable.^'^ 

^*  Lev.  xxiv.  5-9 ;  for  the  Sifra  to  this  as  also  the  other  Rabbinical  passages, 
see  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xiii.  p.  1084  ff. ;  see  also  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  10.  7; 
Matt.  xii.  4  ;  Mark  ii.  26  ;  Luke  vi.  4.  For  the  principle  on  wliich  they 
Avere  divided,  see  Sukka  v.  7,  8  (the  retiring  course  of  service  got  the  one 
half  and  the  incoming  one  the  other  half). 

^5  Num.  xviii.  10  and  the  passages  cited  in  the  preceding  notes ;  also 
Joseph.  Antt.  iv.  4.  i,  fin. 

^^  Lev.  vii.  30-34,  x.  14,  15.  Sifra  to  Lev.  vii.  30-34,  in  Ugolini's  Thcs. 
vol.  xiii.  p.  1091  ff.  Philo,  De  pracmli.i  sacerdotum,  sec.  iii.  (ed.  Mang.  ii. 
234) ;    'TTccvTc;  yacp  ispttov  'T^pooTizux.-cc.t  ovo  roi;   Upivaiv   oiizi   ^vcTiv   tidaadxi 

Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  9.  2  :  to  "hs  trrijdo;  xeti  -r'/jv  KU'/j,uy}i>  tsjv  h^iaiv  roi;  ispivai 
■:toLpaiü-j(/jVTi;.  On  the  peace-offerings  generally,  see  Lev.  iii.  the  whole 
chapter,  vii.  11-21,  28-34.     AViner's  licahcörterb.,  art.  '•  Dankopfer." 

''''Lev.  vii.  8;  the  Sifra  thereto  in  Ugolini's  Thes.  vol.  xiii.  p.  1079. 
Mishna,  Stbachim  xii.  2-4.  Tosefta,  Sehachim  (or  Korbanoth)  xi.  7  if .  in 
L^golini's  r/feÄ-  xiii   lUSOff.     Thilo,  De  pracmiis  sacerdotum,  sec.  iv.  {y[a.ug. 


§  24.  thj:  priestiiood  and  the  temple  worship.      237 

II.  But  considerable  as  the  amount  deiivcd  from  those 
offerings  no  doubt  was,  still  it  formed  but  the  smaller  portion 
of  the  sacerdotal  revenues,  while  for  the  most  part  it  was 
only  available  for  the  officiating  priests.  The  real  bulk  of  the 
priests'  emoluments,  on  the  other  hand,  consisted  strictly 
speaking  of  what  was  derived  from  tlwse  dues  that  were  paid 
independently  of  the  sacrifices  altogether,  and  which  conse- 
quently possessed  the  character  of  a  genuine  tax  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  priesthood.  These  dues  were  levied  partly 
upon  the  produce  of  the  soil  and  partly  upon  the  offspring  of 
the  cattle,  and  they  had  to  be  paid  partly  in  kind,  although 
in  some  instances  they  might  also  be  ransomed  for  their 
equivalent  in  money.  The  dues  derived  from  the  produce  of 
the  soil  were  of  a  varied  character,  and  had  to  be  separated 
(with  a  view  to  payment)  in  the  following  order :  ^®  (1)  The 
prstfruits,  oniaa.  These  offerings  were  taken  from  the  so- 
called  "  seven  kinds,"  i.e.  from  the  principal  products  of  the 
soil  of  Palestine  as  enumerated  in  Deuteronomy  (viii,  8),  viz. 
wheat,  barley,  vines,  fig-trees,  pomegranates,  olives  and  honey. 
Those  who  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem  offered  fresh 
fruits,  while  those  living  farther  away  brought  them  in  a 
dried  form.  In  going  up  to  present  their  offerings  the  people 
went  in  common  procession,  and  according  to  Philo  and  the 
Mishna  it  was  made  an  occasion  of  merry-making.  It  was 
the  practice  for  those  living  in  flie  country  to  assemble  in  the 
principal  towns  of  the  districts  to  which  they  belonged  and 
thence  to  go  up  to  Zion  in  one  merry  company,  marching  to 
the  music  of  the  pipes.  At  the  head  of  the  procession  was 
led  the  ox  that  was  to  form  the  festive  offering,  with  its  horns 
gilded  and  a  garland  of  olive  branches  placed  upon  them.  In 
Jerusalem  the  most  eminent  members  of  the  priesthood  came 

ii.  235):  'E^'  »voioi  (/.iuzot  kuI  Tci.;Tuv  ö'aokuvtuuÜto):/,  duvdr-ct  oi  rxvT 
fOTi,  Oopoc;  "TrpoiTUrrei  tov;  VTT/ifiSrov'jr*:  rxi;  dvoixt;  ispit;  A.uf^ßxvitv,  oü 
fipotyjluu  oi>^>.^  iv  roi;  //.»/.{irrot  Tro/.vxpyi/^cifov  Oupixv.  Josephus,  Antt.  iii.  9.  1. 
Ritter's  Philo  und  die  IMacha,  p.  120.  On  the  burnt-offeriiif,'s  generally, 
see  Lev.  i.  3-17.  Winer's  Ilcalwvrlerh.  under  the  word  "  Brandopfer." 
'*'♦  On  the  order  to  be  observed,  see  Ternnioth  iii.  6,  7. 


238         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

to  meet  tlie  procession  as  it  approached  the  sanctuary.  The 
owners  of  the  offerings  then  put  wreaths  round  the  baskets 
containing  the  first-fruits  and  carried  them  on  their  shoulders 
up  the  temple  mount  as  far  as  tlie  court.  This  was  done 
even  by  the  most  distinguished  personages ;  it  had  been  done 
even  by  King  Agrippa  himself.  As  soon  as  the  procession 
entered  the  court  the  Levites  welcomed  it  with  the  singincj  of 
the  thirtieth  Psalm.  And  now  each  person  proceeded  to 
hand  his  basket  to  the  priest,  and  as  he  did  so,  repeated  the 
confession  of  Deut.  xxvi.  5-10,  whereupon  the  priest  took  it 
and  put  it  down  beside  the  altar.*'^  (2)  Then  came  the  so-called 
terumah  (nonn).  This  was  distinct  from  the  first-fruits,  and 
in  so  far  as  tlie  offering  of  these  latter  had  always  rather  more 
of  a  symbolico-religious  significance,  it  hardly  could  be  said  to 
have  belonged  to  quite  the  same  category  with  them.  The 
terumah  possessed  the  character  of  a  pure  payment  in  kind 
toward  the  maintenance  of  the  priests,  for  Rabbinical  Judaism 
understands  it  in  the  more  restricted  sense  of  the  term  (terumah 
in  the  more  comprehensive  sense  of  the  word  meaning  every 
"  heave  "  whatsoever,  i.e.  everything  paid  to  the  sanctuary)  as 
denoting  the  giving  of  the  choicest  of  the  fruits  of  the  ground 
cmd  of  the  trees  to  the  priests.  This  impost  was  levied  not 
only  upon  the  "  seven  kinds,"  but  upon  every  species  of  fruit, 
and  that  whether  the  fruits  of  the  ground  or  the  fruit  of  trees. 
Here  as  before  the  most  important  of  them  were  wheat,  wine 
and  oil.     The  amount  to  be  given  was  not  regulated  by  anj 

'•^  See  in  general,  Num.  xviii.  13  ;  Neh.  x.  ."6  ;  also  Ex.  xxiii.  19, 
xxxiv.  26.  To  this  matter  Deut.  xxvi.  1-11  was  referred.  Joseph.  Antt. 
iv.  8.  22.  In  the  ^[ishna  the  entire  tractate  Bikkurim  is  devoted  to  the 
subject  of  firet-fruits.  Comp,  especially,  Bikkurim  i.  3  (regarding  the 
"  seven  kinds"  to  be  offered),  and  iii.  1-9  (account  of  the  festive  proces- 
sion). Philo  treats  of  this  matter  in  his  small  work,  De  fcsto  copJiini,  first 
edited  by  Cardinal  Mai,  and  given  in  Richter's  edition  of  Philo's  works, 
V.  48-50  ;  also  in  Tischendorf's  Philonm  (1868),  pp.  69-71.  Of  the  works 
given  under  the  literature  we  would  specially  mention,  Lundius,  Die  alten 
jiuJischen  Heiligthiirner,  book  iii.  chap.  liv.  Ugolini's  Thes.  vol.  iii.  p.  1100  ff. 
Winer's  Reahvarterb.,  art.  "  Erstlinge."  Saalschütz,  i.  344  f.  Haneberg,  pp. 
.^65-568.  Grätz,  Monatsschrift  für  Geschichte  und  Wissensch.  des  Judenth. 
1877,  p.  433  ff. 


§  2-1.    THE  PWESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOIISIIIP.         239 

fixed  measure,  weight,  or  number,^"  but  was  to  be,  on  an 
average,  one-fiftieth  of  the  whole  yield,  the  person  who  gave 
one-fortieth  being  regarded  as  giving  liberally,  while  he  who 
gave  only  one-sixtieth  was  considered  to  have  given  somewhat 
stingily/^  Whatever  had  once  been  set  apart  as  a  terumali 
could  be  lawfully  made  use  of  only  by  the  priests/^  (3)  After 
tlie  materials  of  the  two  classes  of  offerings  we  have  just 
mentioned  had  been  duly  separated,  the  largest  and  most 
important  item  of  all  now  fell  to  be  deducted,  viz.  the  tithe. 
We  know,  from  what  the  Gospels  tell  us,  with  what  painful 
scrupulosity  the  prescriptions  of  the  law  in  regard  to  this 
matter  were  observed,  and  how  common  it  was  to  pay  tithe 
even  of  the  most  insignificant  and  worthless  objects,  such  as 
mint,  anise,  and  cummin  (Matt,  xxiii. ;  Luke  xi.  42).  The 
principle  laid  down  in  tlie  Mishna  with  respect  to  this  is  as 
follows :  "  Everything  which  may  be  used  as  food  and  is 
cultivated  and  grows  out  of  the  earth  is  lialtle  to  tithe."  ''^     Tlie 

'"  Terumoth  i.  7. 

'1  Terumoth  iv.  3.  Comp.  Jerome's  com.  on  Ezek.  xliv.  13,  14  (Opp.  ed. 
Vallarsi,  v.  5G5)  :  At  vero  primitiva  quae  de  frugibus  offerebant,  uon  erant 
Bpeciali  numcro  definita,  sed  oiferentium  arbitrio  derelicta.  Trarlitionein- 
que  accepimus  Hebraeorum  iiou  lege  praeceptam,  sed  magistroium  arbitrio 
iiiolitam  :  qui  plurimum,  quailnu/esiniam  partem  dabat  sactrdotibus,  qui 
minimum,  sexagesimam:  inter  quadra gesimam  et  sexagesimam  licebat 
offerre  quodcumque  voluissent. 

'-See  in  general,  Num.  xviii.  12;  Xeli.  x.  38.  The  Kabbinical  regu- 
lations in  the  tractate  Terumoth.  Philo,  De  pi-aemiis  sacerdotum,  sec.  i. 
(Mang.  ii.  p.  Ü33)  :  ■Trpo'jrü.Tnt  x,x\  octo  rij;  oi'Kh.yig  Krviasu;  ocTTxp)ci''^m,  »cst^' 
'iKO(.aTr,'j  yA'j  X'^pov  oii/o»,  y~*6  ty-etiTfj  Oi  ci'hcauu  airou  y.eti  y.pi^oii.  0,uciiu;  oe 
i^  i'Kotiuy  i'hui'jv  Kul  ccttÖ  röiv  öcKKo»!  dy.pdopvuv  ijfiipovs  kcco-^tov;  (that  it  is  the 
tcrumah  that  Philo  has  in  view  here  has  also  been  correctly  assumed  by 
Richter  in  his  Philo  und  die  Halncha).      Joseph.  Aiitt.  iv.  4.  4  :  ht  Zi 

dvol.pxoi';  ~ÖU    >.«&V    OtKUlOU    TU    6iU     ■:7U.UTUV    ZUV  iX,    T^f    y^j    <^voiiivus>    KXp'^U» 

i'7n(pipity.  Comp,  also  Lu7)dius,  Die  alten  jüdischen  Ilei/igthümer,  book  iv. 
chap.  xxxi.  Winers  Ileal 'rorterh.,  art.  "  Ersthnge."  Saal.'^chütz,  i.  346. 
Haneberg,  p.  568  f. 

"2  Maaseroth  i.  1.  For  details,  comp,  for  example  Maaxeroth  iv  5,  6, 
V.  8.  Lightfoot,  Horae  hebr.,  note  on  Matt,  xxiii.  23  (0pp.  ii.  359). 
Wetzstein,  jVou.  Test.,  note  on  the  same  passage.  On  the  tithing  of  anise 
{ä,<jr,dov,  nscO?  see  Maaseroth  iv.  5  ;  on  that  of  cummin  (Kv/xtuoy,  pi33), 
Dcmai  ii.  1. 


240         §  24.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

revenue  derived  from  the  source  now  in  question  must  have  been 
very  large  indeed.  Yet  the  greater  proportion  of  it  was  intended 
not  so  much  for  the  priests  as  for  the  more  subordinate  class 
of  sacred  officials,  viz.  the  Levitcs.  It  was  to  these  latter,  in 
the  first  instance,  that  the  tithe  had  to  be  paid,  while  thej^ 
had  in  turn  to  hand  over  a  tithe  of  that  again  to  the  priests.'^* 
After  separating  this  Levites'  tithe  from  his  produce,  the  owner 
had  to  deduct  another  one  still,  the  so-called  second  tithe.  But 
this,  in  common  with  several  other  imposts  of  a  similar  kind, 
was  made  use  of  by  the  owner  himself  in  the  way  of  furnish- 
ing a  sacrificial  feast  at  Jerusalem ;  consequently  they  were 
not  for  the  benefit  of  the  priests,  and  so  do  not  fall  to  be 
considered  here.^*     (4)  Then  the  last  of  the  offerings  taken 

"  See  in  general,  Num.  xviii.  20-32  ;  Neh.  x.  38-40.  Philo,  De 
caritate,  sec.  x.  (ed.  Mang.  ii.  391)  ;  De  praemiis  sacerdot.  sec.  vi. ;  pro- 
bably it  is  also  the  tithe  that  is  in  view  in  sec.  ii.  init.  of  the  same  treatise. 
Joseph.  Aiitt.  iv.  4.  3,  4.  The  Rabbinical  prescriptions  in  Maaseroth. 
Hottinger,  De  decimis  Judaeorum,  Lugd.  Bat.  1713.  Lundius,  Die  alieii 
jiid.  HeiligtJiiimer,  book  iv.  chap,  xxxii.  Winer's  Recdwörterh.,  art.  "  Zehnt." 
Saalschütz,  i.  346  f.  Haneberg,  pp.  573-576.  Leyrer  in  Herzog's  Recd- 
Eiic,  1st  ed.  vol.  xviii.  414-421.  Eitter,  PhUo  und  die  Halacha,  pp.  122- 
124.  Knobel-Dillmann,  Execjet.  Handbuch,  note  on  Lev.  xxvii.  30-33 
(also  at  the  same  place  for  the  instances  of  a  similar  practice  among  the 
heathen). 

''^  To  the  category  of  imposts  that  were  consumed  by  the  owner  himself 
at  Jerusalem  belong — 

(1)  The  "  second  tithe,''''  according  to  Deut.  xiv.  22-26.  Lev.  xxvii.  30,  31 
was  likewise  understood  in  this  sense.  Comp.  Tob.  i.  7 ;  Joseph.  Antt. 
iv.  8.  8.  In  the  Mishna  see  the  Avhole  tractate  Maaser  sheni.  Hottiuger, 
De  decimis  Judaeorum,  pp.  146-182  (^Exercit.  vii.).  Lundius,  Die  alten  jiid. 
Heiligthümer,  iv.  33.  Winer's  Reahrörterh.,  art.  "  Zehnt."  Saalschutz,  i. 
pp.  169,  354-358.  Leyrer  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc,  1st  ed.  vol.  xviii.  p.  417  f. 
Those  living  at  a  distance  from  Jerusalem  were  allowed  to  convert  the 
second  tithe  into  money  on  the  understanding  that  one-fifth  of  its  money 
value  was  to  be  superadded  to  it  (Lev.  xxvii.  31 ;  Maaser  sheni  iv.  3). 
But  this  money  had  to  be  spent  exclusively  in  the  purchase  of  such  viands, 
beverages,  and  ointment  as  were  necessary  for  the  sacrificial  feast  at 
Jerusalem  (Deut.  xiv.  26  ;  Maaser  sheni  ii.  1). 

(2)  The  tithe  of  the  cattle.  The  only  passage  in  the  Pentateuch  which 
requires  the  cattle  to  be  tithed,  viz.  Lev.  xxvii.  32,  33,  was  expressly 
understood  by  the  later  legislation  in  the  sense  of  the  "second  tithe,"  and 
that  being  the  case,  it  follows  that  the  cattle  tithe  would  also  be  devoted 
to  the  furnishing  of  the  feasts  in  Jerusalem.    See  Sehachim  v.  8.    Bartenora 


§  24.    THE  PrJESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         241 

from  the  products  of  the  soil  was  the  so-called  challah  ('""^O), 
i.e.    the    offering     from    the    kneaded    dough    (aTrap-xr}    rov 

and  Maimonides  on  Bechoroth  ix.  1  (in  Surenhusius'  edition  of  the  Mishna, 
V.  187).  At  the  same  time,  Philo  would  seem  to  include  the  cattle  tithe 
also  among  the  priests'  emoluments,  De  caritate,  sec.  x.  (Mang.  ii.  391)  ; 
De  pracmiis  sacerdotum,  sec.  ii.  ixit.  (where  the  tithe  is  probably  meant). 
Comp.  Eitter's  Philo  und  die  Halacha,  p.  122  f.  For  a  fuller  account  of 
the  matter,  see  Mishna,  Bechoroth  ix.  1-8  ;  also  Maaser  sheni  i.  2  ;  She- 
kalim  i.  7,  iii.  1,  viii.  8 ;  Rash  hashana  i.  1  ;  Chagiga  i.  4  ;  Sebachim  v.  8, 
X.  3  ;  Manachoth  ix.  6  ;  Chullin  i.  7.  Hottinger,  De  decimis  Judaeoriim, 
pp.  228-253  (Exercit.  x.).  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jiid.  HeiVgth.  book  iv.  chap, 
xxxviii. 

(3)  The  produce  of  trees  and  vines  in  the  fourth  year  of  their  growth. 
According  to  Lev.  xix.  23-25,  the  fruit  of  newly-planted  trees  (and  vines) 
was  not  to  be  gathered  at  all  during  the  first  three  years,  while  in  the 
fourth  it  was  to  be  consecrated  to  God,  as  it  was  not  to  be  at  the  free 
disposal  of  the  owner  of  it  till  the  fifth  year.  In  later  times  this  was  taken 
to  mean  that  the  produce  of  the  fourth  year  was,  like  the  second  tithe,  to 
be  consumed  by  the  owner  himself  in  Jerusalem.  See  especially,  Joseph. 
Antt.  iv.  8.  19  :  ru  de  Tirocpru  TpvyotTU  vAu  to  yivof^ivou  (t6t£  yocp  upiov 
ilvxi)  Kul  avuBC/cfyau  ii;  rvj  ispaiv  'xl'ki'j  KOfii^tTU,  kciI  aiiv  tJj  OiKXT/j  rou 
»K'Kou  xxpTTOV  (/.sti  TU'j  (pl'Kuv  ivci}x,rjVfiiuo;  dua'KiffKiru  y.ctl  far 
6p(px-jZu  KOI.)  xfipivovau'v  yvjcciKUv.  Comp,  also  Philo,  De  caritate,  sec.  xxi. 
(Mang.  ii.  402).  Mishua,  Pia  vii.  G  ;  Maascr  sheni  v.  1-5  ;  Orla  through- 
out; Edujoth  iv.  5.  Guisius  on  Pta  vii.  6  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  i.  68). 
Ilottlager,  De  jure  plantae  quarti  anni  juxta  praeceptum  Lev.  xix.  24, 
Marburg  1704.     Saalschütz,  i.  168  f. 

(4)  Then,  in  the  last  place,  among  the  offerings  that  did  not  fall  to  the 
priests  were  those  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  viz. :  (a)  the  gleanings 
of  the  fields  and  what  grew  upon  the  edges  of  them  when  the  corn  was 
reaped.  Lev.  xix.  9,  10,  xxiii.  22 ;  Deut.  xxiv.  19-22.  Joseph.  Antt.  iv. 
8.  21.  Philo,  De  caritate,  sec.  ix.  (Mang.  ii.  390).  Mishna,  Pea.  (V)  The 
so-called  third  tithe,  or  the  tithe  for  the  poor.  According  to  the  terms  of  the 
prescription  (Deut.  xiv.  28,  20,  xxvi.  12)  on  which  this  tithe  is  based  one 
should  expect  that,  strictly  .speaking,  the  tithe  for  the  poor  would  alternate 
with  the  second  tithe.  For  Deuteronomy  prescribes  tliat  the  tithe  that  in 
the  other  two  years  was  consumed  by  tlic  owner  himself  before  Jehovah, 
was  in  tlie  third  year  to  be  assigned  to  tlie  Levites  and  the  poor.  So  too 
according  to  the  Sept.  version  of  Deut.  xxvi.  12  :  {Iv  tw  hit  ru  rphcS)  to 
OiVTipo'j  ivtiiKXTOv  }>uaitg  TW  Aivhyj  kuI  tu  Trpoavihura  kxI  tu  opZxvu  y.xl 
TYJ  x'^pcc.  But  it  became  the  practice  in  later  times  to  superadd  the  tithe 
for  tiie  poor  to  the  second  tithe  every  third  year.  See  Tob.  i.  7,  8. 
Joseph.  Antt.  iv.  8.  22.  Pea  viii.  2-9.  Dcmai  iv.  3,  4.  Maaacr  sheni 
V.  6.  Jadajim  iv.  3.  Targuni  of  Jonathan  on  Deut.  xxvi.  12.  Jerome's 
commentary  on  Ezckiel  xlv.  13,  14  (ed.  Vallarsi,  v.  565).  Guisius's  note 
on  Pea  viii.  2  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna  i.  70).  Bernard  and  Ilavercamp's 
editions  of   Josephus,  notes  on    Antt.  iv.  8.  22.     Hottinger,  De  decimis 

DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  Q 


242        §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP, 

(pvpdixaTo<;,  Eom.  xi.  16).  According  to  the  Mishna,  offerings 
of  this  sort  required  to  be  given  in  the  case  of  dough  that 
happened  to  be  made  from  any  one  of  the  five  following  kinds 
of  grain :  wheat,  barley,  spelt,  oats,  and  rye  (1)J^  The  offer- 
ing was  not  to  be  presented  in  the  form  of  flour  or  meal,  but 
required  to  be  taken  from  the  dough,  i.e.  as  prepared  for 
making  bread.^^  The  quantity  to  be  given  was,  in  the  case 
of  private  individuals,  one  twenty-fourth  part,  and,  in  the  case 
of  public  bakers,  one  forty-eighth  part  of  the  whole  piece.^* 

Then  there  was  a  second  leading  class  of  regular  offerings, 
viz.  those  derived  from  the  rearing  of  cattle.  These  w^ere  of 
three  different  kinds :  (1)  The  most  important  of  them  was 
that  consisting  of  the  male  first-lorn  of  the  cattle  (that  is  to 
say  therefore,  the  first-born  w^henever  it  happened  to  be  a 
male).  As  far  back  as  the  earlier  Jehovistic  and  Deuterono- 
mist  legislation  we  find  that  the  male  first-born  of  the  cattle 
was  required  to  be  dedicated  to  God,  i.e.  was  to  be  used  in 
sacrifice  and  for  sacrificial  feasts  (Ex.  xiii.  11-16,  xxii. 
28,  29,  xxxiv.  19,  20  ;  Deut.  xv.  19-23).  This  the  priestly 
legislation  has  converted  into  an  allowance  to  be  given  to  the 
priests  (Ex.  xiii.  1,  2;  Lev.  xxvii.  26,  27;  Num.  xviii. 
15-18  ;  Neh.  x.  37).  Both  legislations  add  to  this  the^rs^- 
lorn  among  men  as  well,  for  these   two  were   regarded  as, 

Judaeorum,  pp.  182-203.  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jüd.  Heiligth.,  book  iv.  chap, 
xxxiv.  Winer's  Realwörteri.,  art.  "  Zehnt."  Leyrer  in  Herzog's  Real- 
Encjicl.,  1st  ed.  vol.  xviii.  p.  418  f. 

''^  Challa  i.  1.  There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  two  words 
usually  rendered  "oats"  and  "rye"  (^yi:^  D^UC  and  pa"'5J')  ;  especially 
with  regard  to  pD'>EJ'  =  ff/(piyi/,  at(pöiuiou^  it  would  certainly  be  more  correct  to 
understand  the  word  as  meaning  a  species  of  oats. 

"•''  Clialla  ii.  5. 

''ä  Challa  iL  7.  See  in  general,  Num.  xv,  17-21 ;  Neh.  x.  38 ;  Ezek. 
xliv.  30.  Philo,  De  praemiis  sacerdoium,  sec.  i.  (Mang.  ii.  233) :  Kthsvn  ydp 
roil;  airoTouovuretg  oi'Ko  'Trxvrog  arixröi  t£  xxt  cpvpcificcro;  »prou  oi<poc.ipilv 
»■77ctp)(,yjv  ii;  hpiuv  ■)cp'i;otv.  Joseph.  Antt.  iv.  4.  4 :  rovg  ts  "TriTTouTctc  rw 
a~iTCiy  Kdi  »jno-zoiovf^ivovg  roiv  7rsf<.f<,a.rav  xvTol;  tivu,  ■)(,oprtyuv.  Mishna 
tractate,  Challa.  Sifra  to  Num.  xv.  17  ff.  in  Ugolini's  1hcsa2irus,  vol.  xiii. 
p.  1108  ff.  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jüd.  Heiligth.  book  iv.  chap,  xxxix.  Saal- 
schütz, i.  347.     Haneberg,  pp.  571-573.     Ritter 's  Pldlo  und  die  Halacha, 

p.  lis. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         243 

properly  speaking,  belonging  to  God,  and  consequently  they 
required  to  be  ransomed.  Further,  as  a  distinction  had  to  be 
made  between  clean  and  unclean  cattle,  we  accordingly  have 
the  following  more  specific  regulations  with  respect  to  the 
first-born : '"  (ci)  the  first-born  of  the  cattle  that  were  clcaji  and 
suitable  for  sacrificial  purposes,  i.e.  oxen,  sheep  and  goats, 
were  to  be  given  in  natura.  If  they  were  free  from  blemish 
they  were  to  be  treated  as  sacrifices,  i.e.  the  blood  was  to  be 
sprinkled  upon  tlie  altar  and  the  fat  consumed  in  the  altar 
fires.^"  The  flesh  could  be  eaten  by  all  who  were  connected 
with  the  order  of  the  priests,  even  by  their  wives,  and  that  in 
any  part  of  Jerusalem  (Num.  xviii.  17,  18;  Neh.  x.  37; 
Ex.  xxii.  29,  xxxiv.  19;  Dent.  xv.  19,  20).''  But  if,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  animals  had  any  blemish  about  them, 
they  belonged  no  less  to  the  priests,  only  they  were  to  be 
treated  as  unconsecrated  food  (Deut.  xv.  21-23).'^  (h)  The 
first-born  of  unclean  animals  above  all,  according  to  Philo,  those 
of  the  horse,  the  ass,  and  the  camel — and  here  too  as  in  every 
other  instance  only  the  male  ones — were  to  be  ransomed  by 
the  payment  of  a  certain  sum  of  money  fixed  by  the  priest 
with  a  fifth  part  added  (Num.  xviii.  15;  Neh.  x.  37;  Lev. 
xxvii.  27).  An  ass  was  to  be  exchanged  for  a  sheep  (Ex. 
xiii.  13,  xxxiv.  20).  According  to  Josephus,  the  ransom 
would  appear  to  have  been  effected  by  the  payment  of  a 
fixed  sum  of  one  shekel  and  a  half  for  each  beast,  (c)  Tiie 
first-horn  of  man,  i.e.  the  first  child  that  happened  to  be  a  male, 

'^  Subsequent  practice  amalgamated  the  Jehovistic  aud  Deuterouoraic 
enactments  with  those  of  the  priest-code,  and  made  tlie  latter  the  standard 
by  which  to  interpret  them. 

*"  Consequently  the  Mishna  characterizes  the  first-born  also  as  "  holy," 
but  only  in  the  second  degree,  Dvp  D''u'"1p,  like  passa  and  the  cattle  tithe, 
Sebachim  v.  8. 

81  In  the  passage  in  Deuteronomy  the  "  thou"  of  xv.  20  has  been  under- 
stood as  though  it  were  addressed  to  the  priests  and  not  (as  was  the  original 
intention  of  the  passage)  to  the  Isi-aelites. 

^2  Accordingly,  in  cases  of  this  sort  the  flesh  might  be  sold  by  the  priests 
even  to  persons  who  did  not  belong  to  tlieir  own  order  and  eaten  by  them  ; 
see  Bartenora's  note  on  Bcchoroth  v.  1  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  v.  1C9). 


244        §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

required  to  be  "  ransomed  "  as  soon  as  it  was  a  month  old  by 
the  payment  of  five  shekels  (Xum.  xviii.  15,  16  ;  comp.  Num. 
iii.  44  ff.;  Neh.  x.  37;  Ex.  xiii.  13,  xxii.  28,  xxxiv.  20). 
It  was  not  necessary  that  the  boy  should  be  presented  at  the 
temple  on  the  occasion  of  his  being  ransomed,  as  has  been 
supposed,  for  the  most  part  on  the  strength  of  Luke  ii.  22.®' 
As  is  expressly  stated  in  the  passages  just  referred  to,  the 
shekels  in  question  were  to  be  those  of  the  Tyrian  standard.** 
This  tax  was  imposed  upon  poor  and  rich  alike.^^ 

(2.)  Of  all  the  flesh  that  was  slaughtered  generally  the  priests 
were   to   receive   three    portions,  viz.  the    shoulder,  the   two 

^*  See,  on  the  other  hand,  Low,  Die  Lebensalter  in  der  jüdischen  Literatur 
(1875),  p.  110  S. 

^*  Bechoroth  viii.  7.  A  shekel  of  the  Phoenician  (=the  early  Hebrew) 
standard  amounted  to  somewhere  about  2  marks  62  pfennige  of  German 
money  (Hultsch,  Griechische  und  römische  Metrologie,  2nd  ed.  p.  420), 
and  consequently  five  shekels  would  be  equivalent  to  about  13  marks. 
There  can  be  no  question  that,  by  the  "  ransoming,"  the  older  legislation 
(Ex.  xiiL  13,  xxxiv.  20)  does  not  mean  a  buying  back  for  money,  but 
an  exchanging  for  an  animal  that  could  be  used  as  a  sacrifice. 

^5  See  in  general,  Philo,  De  praemiis  sacerdotum,  sec.  i.  (Mang,  ii.  233)  . 
Tpi'rov  larl  yipcc;  tcc  -TTpuTCiroKoc  ecppsuix,»  »cii  i^ökvra,  tuv  yjipao!,iuv  'oax  Trpog 
VTrripsoia;  kccI  y^pv^ijiv  a,'j9pu7ruv.  TavTot  yxp  y.i'KiVii  oiccotooadxi  toI;  hpuf^ii/oi; 
dudpuTTOig.  'Bouu  fiiv  kcci  T^poßxrav  x.a,\  cciyuv  xi/rcc  rcc  iKyoux,  /aoa-^ov; 
K.xl  x.piov;  »xi  x^f/.xppov;,   iTnio'}]  -/.x&xpx  x.x\    'T^pog    iouo'/ju  kxI   'Trpoi  6va'tx; 

i(TTl    T£    axi    VSVOfildTXl'    "KVTpX    OS    X.»TXTldivXl    TUU    xKhlilV     "nr-KUV     KXI     OI/UU 

xxl  xxfcviT^av  Kxl  ruu  'Trxpxnv'h-fiaiuu  f^v^  f^nouvTXi  ttj'j  x^ixv.     "Eari  Ze 

Kxl     TXVT»     '7ZXy.'7T'h-/i&Vl "Y'/^V     ti    TUV     "K  pUT  OT  6  X.U  U     vioi'J     KxdtipUdlV, 

üg  VTrep  Tou  fi'/irs  yovsl;  tskvcju  fivirs  tskvx  yoviuu  dix^ivyuvadxt,  rifiXTXi 
T'/iu  u.'KXpx'^v  xpyvpi'^  P'^^V^  Ti-poaru^x;  i'sov  sl'j(fipirj  kx\  'Triu'/iTX  xxt  7:'ho\j- 
atov.  Comp,  also  De  caritate,  sec.  x.  (ed.  Mang.  ii.  391).  Joseph.  Antt. 
iv.  4.  4 :  Tuu  nrpxTToouv  os  ruu  tig  rx;  dvaixg  vivopctayAuuv  to  yiwvidsu  irpa- 
Tov,  »u  xpaiv  fi,  xxrxdvcxt  ■Kxpxu-^ilv  zol;  hpiiKjiv,  uazs  xvrov;  'ttxvoikI 
amiadxi  sv  t>j  iepx  —ot^n'  tu'j  o'  oil  vivof/AayAuwj  iadUiv  -Ttxp  xiiroig  xxrx 
Tov;  'TTxrpiov;  i/6inov;  rot/;  "hiaTroTx;  tuv  ■rix.royA'ju'j  atKKoy  x,x\  iifAiav  xi/roig 
dyxfspetv,  xvopu-T^ov  oi  7rp6jTcr6x.ov  ■Trkurs  aU'hovg.  Misbna  tractate  Bechoroth. 
Lundius,  Die  alt.  jiid.  Heiligthilmer,  hook  iii.  chap.  xliv.  "Winer's  Real- 
wörterb.,  art.  "Erstgeburt."  Saalschütz,  i.  348  f.  Haneberg,  pp.  569-571. 
Frankel,  Ueber  den  Einflass  der  palästinischen  Exegese,  etc.,  1851,  p.  98  f. 
(on  the  Sept.  rendering  of  Ex.  xiii.  13  and  xxxiv.  20).  Eitter,  Philo, 
pp.  118-122  (the  most  exhaustive  and  accurate  of  any).  Knobel-Dilhnann, 
Exeget.  Handbuch,  note  on  Ex.  xiii.  1,  2.  Low,  Die  Lebensalter  in  der  jiid. 
Literatur,  1875,  pp.  110-118,  390-392  (specially  treating  of  the  first-born 
in  the  case  of  man). 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         245 

cheeks,  and  tlie  stomach.  This  is  the  sense  in  which  Deut. 
xviii.  3  was  understood,  and  was  therefore  taken  as  referring, 
not  to  animals  offered  in  sacrifice,  but  to  those  slaughtered  for 
ordinary  use.  According  to  the  later  interpretation  of  it,  this 
prescription  was  also  regarded  as  applying  exclusively  to  such 
animals  as  were  suitable  for  sacrifices,  viz.  oxen,  sheep  and 
goats.^" 

(3.)  Again,  a  portion  of  the  j^^'occeds  of  the  sheep-shearing 
had  to  be  given  to  the  priests,  only  in  those  cases  however 
in  which  a  person  owned  more  than  one  sheep — according  to 
the  school  of  Shammai,  when  he  owned  two,  according  to 
Hiilel's  school,  on  the  other  hand,  not  unless  he  owned  five. 
This  offering  was  said  to  amount  to  five  Jewish  (  =  ten 
Galilaean)  sela.*^ 

III.  Besides  the  regular  offerings,  there  also  fell  to  the 
priests  a  considerable  number  of  an  irregidar  and  cxtra^ 
ordinary  character.  To  this  category  belonged,  fundamentally 
at  least,  a  large  number  of  sacrifices  offered  on  an  almost 
endless  variety  of  occasions  (see  p.  195  f.  above) ;  but  besides 

^^  See  in  general,  besides  Deut.  xviii.  3,  Philo,  De  pracmiis  sacerdotttm, 
sec.  iii.  (Mang.  ii.  235):  Axö  de  jav  'i^a  toD  ßa/nov  dvofiiuuv  'ii/excc  Kptu^xyta; 
Tpict  'TTpoariToi.KTXi  TU  itpii  oIooGÖcti,  ß p ot,)(,io V ot,  Kul  atetyova,  x.otl  to  koc'Kov- 
(ji-ivd-j  Tjvvarpov.  Joseph.  Antt.  iv.  4.  4  :  uvat  os  x.ctl  roig  kut^  oIkov  dvovoiv, 
ivu'/,ia;  tuiKoe,  rii;  oivruv,  ciXh»  //.V)  öpvi'jy.iix;,  oivä.'yKYit'  xoftti^iiu  Toiq  iiptvaiv 
TjvvaToöv  T£  x.xl  y^i'hvvK)))  Kdl  Tov  os|/()j/  ßpoc.-/,ioua.  ToD  dv(/^ot.To;.  On 
the  meaning  of  xihvviov  (not  tlie  breast,  but  the  cheek),  see  notes  on  this 
passage  in  Bernard  and  Ilavercamp's  editions  of  Josephus.  Mishna 
tractate  Chullin  x.  and  the  corresponding  Gemara,  fol.  130  ff.  Si/ra  to 
Deut.  xviii.  3  in  Ugolini,  vol.  xiii.  1113-1115  (here  too,  as  in  Josephus,  the 
right  foreleg  or  shoulder).  Jerome,  Epist.  Ixiv.  ad  Fahiolam,  chap.  ii. 
(Vallarsi,  i.  355)  :  Caeterum  et  alia  tria,  exceptis  primitiis  hostiarum  et  de 
privato  et  de  macello  publico,  ubi  non  religio  sed  victus  necessitas  est,  saccr- 
dotibus  membra  tribuuntur,  brachium,  maxilla  et  venter.  Bernard  and 
Ilavercamp's  editions  of  Josephus,  notes  on  Antt.  iv.  4.  4.  Saalschütz,  L 
p.  350.  Haneberg,  p.  576  f.  Oehler  in  Ilerzog's  Rcal-EncycL,  1st  ed.  vol.  xii. 
p.  181  f.  Knobel's  note  on  Deut.  xviii.  3.  Hitter's  Philo,  p.  124  f.  Well- 
Lausen,  i.  p.  158. 

^"  See  in  general,  Deut.  xviii.  4.  Joseph.  Atitt.  iv.  4.  4 :  iJvxi  oi  d-otp- 
X^i;  uiiTolg  Kui  rr,;  ruv  -Trpofiira»  KovpA;.  Mishna,  Chidlin  xi.  1,  2. 
Sijra  to  Deut.  xviii.  4,  in  Ugolini,  vol.  xiii.  p.  1113.  Philo,  De  caritate,  sec. 
X.  (Mangey,  ii.  391),  erroneously  incluiles  this  offering  among  the  tithes. 


246         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

these  they  also  received  the  following  offerings :  (1)  The 
consecration  voids,  or  votive  offerings.  These  might  be  of  a 
very  varied  character.  One  could  dedicate  oneself  or  some 
other  person  to  the  sanctuary  (to  the  Lord).  In  such  cases  it 
was  usual  to  pay  a  certain  sum  of  money  by  way  of  ransom, 
viz.  fifty  shekels  for  a  man  and  thirty  for  a  woman.  But  one 
could  also  dedicate  animals,  houses,  or  lands  to  the  sanctuary. 
If  the  animals  happened  to  be  such  as  could  be  offered  in 
sacrifice,  then  they  had  to  be  given  in  natura.  But  in  the 
case  of  unclean  animals  and  in  that  of  houses  and  lands,  a 
money  ransom  could  be  paid  as  before,  though  on  certain 
conditions  specified  in  the  law.^*  (2)  A  special  form  of  con- 
secration vow  called  the  Ian,  i.e.  something  irredeemably 
devoted  to  the  sanctuary.  Whenever  anything  was  devoted 
to  the  sanctuary  in  this  form  (as  something  banned,  ö"in)  it 
fell  to  it,  i.e.  to  the  priests  in  natura,  whether  it  were  in  the 
shape  of  a  person,  cattle,  or  lands.®'^  (3)  Lastly,  in  those 
cases  in  which  any  one  had  appropriated  or  otherwise  unlaw- 
fully got  possession  of  anything,  and  in  which  it  was  no 
longer  possible  to  restore  the  property  to  its  rightful  owner,  a 
certain  indemnity  had  to  be  paid,  and  this  also  fell  to  the 
priests.''**     With  regard  to  the  two  things  last  mentioned,  the 

88  See  in  general,  Lev.  xxvii. ;  Deut.  xxiii.  22-24.  Joseph.  Antt.  iv.  4.  4  ; 
Matt.  XV.  5  ;  Mark  vii.  11.  Luudius,  Die  alt.  jüd.  Hciligthiimer,  book  iii. 
chap.  xlv.  Saalschütz,  Das  mosaische  Recht,  i.  150-153,  358-367.  Winer's 
Real-wörterh.  art.  "Gelübde."  Oehler  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl.,  1st  ed.  vol. 
iv.  pp.  788-790  (art.  "Gelübde  beiden  Hebräern").  Knobel-Dillmann, 
Exeget.  Handbuch,  notes  on  Lev.  xxvii.  Haneberg,  Die  religiösen  Alter- 
thümer  der  Bibel,  pp.  370-376.  Lightfoot,  Horae  hcbr.,  note  on  ^fatt.  xv.  5 
{Opp.  ed.  Roterodamens.  ii.  p.  332  f.).  Edzard,  Tractatus  Talmiidicus, 
Aboda  sara  1710,  p.  294  ff.  Schoettgen,  Ilorae  hehr.,  Wolfs  Curae  phil. 
in  Nov.  Test.,  and  Wetzstein's  Nov.  Test.,  the  notes  of  the  three  last- 
mentioned  writers  on  Matt.  xv.  5 ;  see  in  general  the  expositors  on  Matt. 
XV.  5  and  Mark  vii.  11  ;  also  "  Saat  auf  Hoffnung,"  edited  by  Delitzsch  for 
year  1875,  pp.  37-40.  On  the  validity  of  vows  in  the  case  of  women,  see 
Num.  XXX. ;  !Mishna  tractate  Nedarim. 

®®  See  Lev.  xxvii.  28 ;  Num.  xviii.  14 ;  Ezek.  xliv.  29.  Saalschütz,  i. 
368-373.  Winer's  Bealworterb.,  art.  "Bann."  Lev.  xxvii.  29  is  not  appli- 
cable here.     See  Knobel-Dillmann 's  note  on  this  latter  passage. 

90  Num.  V.  5-8. 


§  21.    TUE  PrJESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESIIIP.         2-47 

law  distinctly  states  that  they  were  to  belong  to  the  pj'iV.s^s 
personally,  whereas  the  votive  offering,  on  the  other  hand, 
would  appear  to  have  been  devoted  as  a  rule  to  purposes 
connected  with  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  generally .^^  At 
the  same  time  Josephus  distinctly  affirms  that  the  ransom  of 
fifty  or  of  thirty  shekels  to  be  paid  in  those  cases  in  which 
any  one  had  devoted  him  or  herself  to  God  formed  part  of 
the  friesW  emoluments.^*  Further,  the  Eabbinical  theologians 
hold  that,  besides  the  cherem  and  the  indemnity  offering, 
"the  inherited  field,"  consecrated  as  a  votive  offering  (Lev. 
xxvii.  16-21),  was  also  to  be  included  among  the  twenty- 
four  different  kinds  of  offerings  that  fell  to  the  priests.'* 

To  what  extent  all  the  offerings  to  which  we  have  referred 
were  contributed  by  the  Jews  of  the  disjpersion  as  well  it  is  no 
longer  possible  to  say  with  any  degree  of  certainty  in  regard 
to    any  one   of  them   in  particular.^*      In   any   case   a   large 

"^  Shekalim  iv.  6-8 :  "  When  any  one  consecrates  his  possessions 
(VD^J)  .  .  •  and  there  happen  to  be  cattle  amongst  them  suitable  for 
sacrifice,  whether  males  or  females,  then,  according  to  liabbi  Eliesar,  they 
are  to  be  sold,  the  males  for  burnt -offerings  and  the  females  for  festive 
offerings,  to  those  who  may  be  requiring  them  for  such  purposes,  while  the 
money  with  the  rest  of  the  properly  was  to  be  given  to  the  treasury  for  the 
support  of  the  temple  (1^2^  P12h)-  Rabbi  Josua  says:  The  males  are 
sacrificed  as  burnt-offerings,  and  the  females  are  sold  to  such  as  happen  to 
be  requiring  festive  offeriugs,  while,  with  the  money  realized  from  the  sale, 
burnt-offerings  are  purchased  and  offered  ;  the  residue  of  the  property  goes 
to  the  treasury  for  the  maintenance  of  the  sanctuary.  ...  If  any  one 
consecrates  his  possessions,  and  there  happen  to  be  things  amongst  them 
suitable  for  the  altar,  such  as  wine,  oil,  birds,  then,  according  to  Rabbi 
Eliesar,  these  are  to  be  sold  to  those  who  are  requiring  offerings  of  this 
sort,  while  the  money  thus  realized  is  to  be  sj^ent  in  procuring  burnt- 
<;fTering3 ;  the  residue  of  the  property  goes  to  the  treasury  for  the  support 
of  the  temple." 

'"  Joseph.  Atitt.  iv.  4.  4. 

^^  Comp,  the  Rabbinical  passages  quoted  in  note  60,  above. 

^*  For  material  bearing  upon  this,  see  C'halla  iv.  7,  11  ;  Jadajim  iv.  3 ; 
Oiiillin  X.  1  (the  three  portions  allotted  to  the  priests  at  the  slaughtering  of 
an  animal  to  be  given  beyond  Palestine  as  well).  Philo,  De  mnnarcliia,  ii.  ;] 
(Mang.  ii.  224).  Lajat.  nd  Cojnm,  sec.  xxiii.  40  (Mang.  ii.  pp.  568  f.,  5ü2). 
Joseph.  Autt.  xvi.  6.  2-7,  xviii.  9.  1.  The  passages  from  Philo  and 
Josephus  refer  mainly,  of  course,  to  the  (Udrachmi  tax,  but  not  to  that 
alone;  see  Anlt.  xviii.  9.    1:  to'  ts  oiopccxfiov    .    .    .    y.xl   ottoox   «/a« 


248         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

number  of  them  was  paid  by  those  of  the  dispersion  as  well, 
while  the  amount  derived  from  all  those  sources  was  of  so 
handsome  a  character  that  the  priests  always  had  a  comfort- 
able provision.  As  little  are  we  any  longer  in  a  position 
always  to  form  anything  like  a  distinct  conception  of  the 
mode  in  which  those  offerings  were  jJciid.  Many  of  them,  such 
as  the  challa  and  the  three  portions  to  be  given  on  the 
occasion  of  slaughtering  an  animal,  were  of  such  a  nature  that 
they  did  not  admit  of  being  kept  long.  Consequently  to 
carry  these  and  such  as  these  to  Jerusalem  for  the  purpose  of 
presenting  them  there  would  be  simply  impossible.  At  any 
rate,  in  all  those  places  in  which  there  happened  to  be  priests, 
they  were  given  to  them  directly.®''  But  so  far  as  it  was 
at  all  practicable,  the  administration  of  the  offerings  was 
centralized  in  Jerusalem.  Thither  they  were  conveyed  and 
handed  over  to  those  appointed  to  receive  them,  and  from 
thence  again  they  were  distributed  among  the  priests.^^ 

This  central  administration  on  the  part  of  the  priests 
extended  to  the  tithe  as  well,  which  in  point  of  fact  was 
delivered,  not  to  the  Levites,  but  to  the  priests,  in  whose  hands 
the  further  disposal  of  it  was  then  left.®'' 

eiva.67ifA.et.T0t..  Hottinger,  De  decimis  Judaeorum,  p.  100  ff.  (JExercit.  v.). 
Frankel,  Ueher  den  Eivßuss  der  palästinischen  Exegese  auf  die  alexandriniscJie 
Hermeneutik  (1851),  p.  98  f. 

'-'^  It  is  said  in  Terumoth  ii.  4  with  reference  to  the  terumah  :  "  Wherever 
there  happens  to  be  a  priest,  there  the  terumah  of  the  choicest  portions  is  paid 
to  him  ;  but  where  there  is  no  priest  a  terumali  is  to  be  paid  of  something 
that  will  keep."  According  to  Challa  iv.  8,  9,  the  Challa,  things  banned, 
the  first-born,  the  ransom  for  first-born  sons,  the  ransom  for  the  first-born 
of  the  ass,  the  shoulder,  the  cheeks  and  the  stomach  (on  the  occasion  of 
killing  an  animal  for  ordinary  use),  the  portion  of  the  fleece  at  the  sheep- 
shearing,  and  others,  could  be  given  to  any  priest  no  matter  where.  Hence 
it  was  that  the  terumah,  for  example,  and  the  tithe,  and  the  first-born 
continued  to  be  exacted  even  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  Bikkurim 
ii.  3  ;  Shekalim  viii.  8. 

96  See  especially,  2  Chron.  xxxi.  11-19  ;  Neh.  xii.  44,  xiii.  5 ;  Malachi 
iii.  10.  Philo,  De  praemiis,  sec.  iv.  (Mang.  ii.  285  f.)  :  'Tttsjo  Ss  roii  iA.r^ivcc 
rZu  '^ihö'jTuv  6viihi'(^iiu  rol;  Ast^/Säi/sy«,  x.i'ksi'si  rx;  dvccpx»;  d;  to  iipov 
tcof^tl^sadxt,  vporspov,  ur  hdii/'^s  rou;  tspsi;  'ha.f/.ßce.unv. 

9"  Comp.  Joseph.  Vita,  xii.  15  ;  Antt.  xx.  8.  8,  9.  2.     Herzfeld,  Gesch.  des 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        249 

Nor  were  tliose  priestly  gifts  made  use  of  merely  by  the 
priests  themselves,  but  the  ^^/'z^zY^z/c  of  participating  in  the 
enjoyment  of  them  tvas  extended  to  those  connected  ivith  them  as 
well.  The  only  things  that  had  to  be  partaken  of  exclusively 
by  priests  were  those  known  as  "most  holy"  (see  p.  236, 
above).  All  the  others  might  be  enjoyed  by  the  whole  of  the 
members  of  a  priest's  household — his  wife,  his  daughters  and 
his  slaves,  with  the  exception  however  of  hired  workmen  and 
daughters  married  to  other  than  priests.  But,  in  every 
instance,  only  those  were  at  liberty  to  participate  who  were  in 
a  condition  of  Levitical  purity.^'  With  regard  to  the  priests 
no  distinction  was  made,  on  this  occasion,  between  those  duly 
qualified  to  officiate  and  those  debarred  from  doing  so  in 
consequence  of  some  physical  defect  or  infirmity.  These 
latter  might  be  allowed,  when  the  division  to  which  they 
belonged  happened  to  be  serving,  to  go  even  the  length  of 
participating  in  the  "  most  holy  "  things  themselves.®^ 

All  the  offerings  to  which  we  have  hitherto  been  referring 
only  went  to  form  the  personal  emoluments  of  the  priests. 
From  these  are  now  furtlier  to  be  distinguished  tliose  imposts 
which  were  directly  intended  to  defray  the  expenses  connected 
with  public  worship.     The  most  important  of  them  was  the 

Volkes  Jisrael,  ii.  138  ff.  Delitzsch,  Zeitschr.  f.  luth.  Theol.  1877,  p.  448  f. 
Wellhansen,  i.  171  f.  Ritters  Philo  und  die  HalacJia,  p.  123  f.  In  the 
time  of  Nehemiah  the  tithe  was  paid  to  the  Levitcs  precisely  in  accordance 
with  what  is  prescribed  in  the  priest-code,  while  these  in  turn  handed 
over  only  a  tenth  of  the  tithe  to  the  temple  treasury  ;  at  the  same  time  the 
two  things  were  done  under  the  super cision  of  the  priests  (^eh.  x.  38,  39). 
The  Mishna  would  appear  to  proceed  on  the  assumption  that  the  correct 
thing  was  for  the  priests  and  the  Levites  to  receive  their  respective  shares 
directly  from  the  hands  of  the  person  paying  the  tithe  (Maaser  shciii 
V.  6). 

^^  Lev.  xxii.  1-16.  Philo,  De  monarchia,  lib.  ii.  sees,  xiii.-xv.  (ed. 
Mangey,  ii.  pp.  230-233).  Josi-ph.  Antf.  iv.  4.  4  :  -TrotuTuv  Zirui/  loi;  'npivat 
tO^0V(/,ivuv  y.0i'juvu!i  OiiTcc^s  Kotl  rov;  oix,iroc;  k»i  dvy»Tzpx;  kxI  yvi/xix.»;,  i^u 
tL'j  vvip  a,y.!t.pTt\y.ä,ruv  iiTi<p'-p',f^i<jav  Svaiuv'  rxl/zu.;  '/«.p  iv  tu  iepui  ftiuoi 
ZxTTxvojinv  oi  öipp-vi;  roiv  Upiuv  »i/6/i,uip6i/.  Tcrumoth  vi.  2,  vii.  2.  Sifra  to 
Lev.  xxii.  10  ff.,  in  Ugolini's  Thes.  vol.  xiii.  p.  1102  ff. 

8"  Lev.  xxi.  22.  Philo,  De  monarchia,  ii.  13.  Joseph,  yln^i.  iii.  12.  2; 
Bell.  Jud.  V.  7.     Sehachim  xii.  1 ;  Menachoth  xiii.  10,  fn. 


250         §  21.    THE  PEIESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

half- shekel  or  cliclrachma-tax}^  There  was  no  tax  of  this 
description  anterior  to  the  exile,  for  down  to  that  period  it 
had  been  the  practice  for  the  kings  to  provide  the  public 
sacrifices  at  their  own  expense  (Ezek.  xlv.  17  ff.,  xlvi.  13-15, 
according  to  the  Septuagint).  It  was  in  existence  however 
as  early  as  the  days  of  Nehemiah,  although  at  that  time  it 
amounted  only  to  a  third  of  a  shekel  (Neh.  x.  33,  34). 
The  raising  of  it  to  half  a  shekel  cannot  have  taken  place  till 
subseq^uent  to  Nehemiah's  time.  Consequently,  the  passage 
in  the  Pentateuch  (Ex.  xxx.  11-16),  in  which  the  half- 
shekel  tax  is  prescribed,  must  be  regarded  as  a  later  modifi- 
cation of  the  terms  of  the  priest- code,  which  moreover  is 
probable  for  yet  other  reasons.^"^  The  actual  payment  of  this 
tax  in  the  time  of  Christ  is  placed  beyond  a  doubt  by  the 
unquestionable  testimony  of  various  authorities.^"^  Then 
again  it  was  one  that  had  to  be  paid  by  every  male  Israelite 
of  twenty  years  of  age  or  upwards,  no  matter  whether  he  were 
rich  or  poor,^"^  and  that,  in  common  with  all  sacred  tribute,  in 
money  of  the  early  Hebrew  or  Tyrian  (Phoenician)  standard.^^ 

100  Comp.  Winer's  Realwörterb.,  art.  "  Abgaben."  Saalschutz,  i.  pp.  :291- 
293.  Wieseler's  Chronologische  Synopse,  p.  264  ff.  Id.,  Beiträge  zur 
richtigen  Würdigung  der  Evangelien,  p.  108  ff.  Huschke,  Ueher  den  Census 
und  die  Steiier-verfassung  der  früheren  römischen  Kaiserzeit  (1847),  pp.  202- 
208.  Keim,  Geschichte  Jesu,  ii.  599  ff.  Notes  of  Meyer  and  other  expositors 
on  Matt.  xvii.  24. 

101  See  Wellhausen,  Jahrl.f.  deutsche  Theol.  1877,  p.  412.  The  passage 
in  Exodus  itself  speaks  only  of  one  special  instance  in  which  the  tax  was 
paid,  viz.  on  the  occasion  of  the  numbering  of  the  people  in  the  time  of 
Moses  (Num.  i.).  But  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  this  was  indirectly 
intended  to  furnish  a  legal  basis  on  which  to  found  the  exaction  of  the 
regular  half -shekel  tax.  It  is  also  in  this  sense  that  the  passage  has  been 
understood  so  early  as  by  the  author  of  the  Chronicles  (2  Chron.  xxiv. 
4-10). 

10^  Matt.  xvii.  24 ;  Joseph.  Antl.  xviii.  9.  1 ;  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  6.  6.  Mishna 
tractate  Shekalim. 

103  Ex.  XXX.  14,  15.  Philo,  De  monarchia,  ii.  3  (Mang.  ii.  224)  :  Upoari- 
recKTeti  yxp  Audi  'kS.v  sro;  ei'7retpx,'K!'  ih0ep£iv  «to  iiKoacarovg  »p€,u,^'iV(iVi. 

lo-'  Tosefta,  Kethuloth  xn.ßn.  :  "Wherever  money  is  mentioned  in  the 
law,  it  is  Syrian  money  (n"iV  P1D3)  that  is  meant.  The  specimens  of  Hebrew 
shekels  that  have  been  preserved  are  found  really  to  correspond  with  money 
of   the    Phoenician  standard.     A   half-shekel  therefore  is   equal   to  two 


§  24.    THE  PKIESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        251 

The  time  for  payment  was  the  month  Adar  (somewhere 
about  the  month  of  March)  ;  ^^^  while  the  mode  of  procedure 
on  that  occasion  was  to  have  the  whole  of  the  contributions 
payable  by  one  community  gathered  together  and  then  sent 
on  to  Jerusalem,  there  to  be  duly  paid  over  in  name  of  that 
community/"^  This  tax  was  spent  mainly  in  defraying  the 
expense  of  the  daily  burnt-offering,  and  of  all  the  sacrifices 
generally  that  had  to  be  offered  in  the  name  of  the  people,  as 
well  as  for  other  objects  of  a  public  character.^"^'  After  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  the  didrachma  had  for  a  long  time 
to  be  paid  toward  tlie  support  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capi- 
tolinus  in  Eome/**^  It  is  true  that  in  the  reign  of  Nerva  the 
calumnia  fisci  Judaicl  was  put  an  end  to,  but  the  tax  itself 
was  not  repealed.^*'^ 

Over  and  above  the  lialf-shekel  tax,  and  as  forming  a 
matter  of  regular  tribute  for  the  temple,  there  was,  above  all, 
the  furnisldng  of  so  much  wood  every  year  as  fuel  for  the  altar 

Tyrian  drachmae,  or  to  somethiug  like  1  mark  31  pfenuige  of  German 
money.  Comp.  p.  244,  above.  In  the  time  of  Christ  it  was  only  the 
Koman  standard  that  was  in  force  in  Palestine  (1  denarius  =  1  Attic 
drachma,  both  of  these  being  somewhat  heavier  than  the  Tyrian  drachma). 
Consequently,  in  paying  the  sacred  tribute  it  was  very  often  necessary  to 
have  recourse  to  the  exchangers. 

105  Shekalim  i.  1,  3. 

1"^  Shekalim  ii.  1.     Comp.  Matt.  xvii.  24. 

10'  Neh.  X.  33,  34.     Shekalim  iv.  1-3. 

108  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  6.  G.  Dio  Cass.  Ixvi.  7.  Comp.  Sueton.  Domi- 
tiati,  12  :  Judaicus  fiscus  acerbissime  actus  est. 

109  We  h&ve  evidence  of  the  first-mentioned  fact  in  the  shape  of  a  coin 
belonging  to  the  reign  of  Nerva  with  the  words  "fisci  Judaici  calumnia 
sublata"  inscribed  upon  it  (Madden's  History  of  Jewish  Coinage,  p.  199). 
This  cannot  be  taken  as  alluding  to  the  repeal  of  the  tax  itself,  but  merely 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  no  longer  to  be  imposed  in  a  form  so  offensive  to 
the  Jews,  and  therefore,  of  course,  tliat  it  was  no  longer  to  go  towards  the 
support  of  heathen  worship.  We  find  that  the  tax  itself  was  still  being 
paid  subsequent  to  the  period  here  in  question  ;  comp.  Appian.  Syr.  I.,  and 
especiall}'  Origen's  Epist.  ad  African,  sec.  xiv.  (ed.  Lommatzscli,  xvii.  44)  : 
y.otl  uuv  yoiJu  Vuy.a.iwj  ßuai^'.ivövruii,  y.ui  '  lovouiuv  to  othpxxuov  »üroie 
TihwvTuv.  Tiie  Rabbinical  writers  again  have  decided  that  the  payment  of 
the  half-shekel  tax  ceases  to  be  binding  when  the  temple  ceases  to  exist 
(^Shekalim  viii.  8). 


252         §  24.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP, 

of  burnt-offering."^  As  early  as  tlie  time  of  Nehemiali  it  was 
ordained  that  the  priests,  the  Levites  and  the  people  were  at 
certain  periods  of  the  year  to  furnish  the  necessary  supply  of 
wood  for  the  altar,  all  of  them  according  to  the  houses  of  their 
fathers,  their  turn  being  decided  by  lot  (Neh.  x.  34,  xiii.  31). 
At  a  later  period  the  "  wood  offering  "  took  place,  for  the  most 
part,  on  the  15th  of  the  month  Ab,  a  day  which,  for  this  very 
reason,  came  to  acquire  a  certain  festive  character.  How- 
ever, at  this  same  period  wood  was  also  furnished  by  certain 
families   on    other    days    besides  the   one    just  mentioned.^^* 

1'"  On  this  see  Herzfeld's  Gescliichte  des  Voltes  Jisrael,  ii.  144  f.  Grätz, 
Geschichic  der  Juden,  3rd  ed.  iii.  pp.  612  (note  1)  and  668  (note  14).  Deren- 
bourg's  Histoire  de  la  Palestine,  p.  109,  note  2.  Hamburger,  lleal-Encycl. 
für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  part  ii.  p.  881  f.,  art.  "  Opferholzspende." 

^^^  MegiUath  Taanith,  sec.  xi.  (in  Derenbourg,  pp.  443,  445).  Joseph. 
Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  6  :  t^?  tuu  ^v'kdCOopiuu  kopryu  ovarii,  tv  ri  -^rctaiv  'idog  vXn»  ru 
ßafioj  'TrpoaCpepuv.  Seeing  that  in  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  7,  Josephus  designates 
the  (]tij  following  the  delivery  of  the  wood  as  the  fifteenth  of  lot-casting 
(  =  Ab),  it  would  follow  from  this  that  the  delivery  took  place  on  the  four- 
teenth of  Ab.  But,  according  to  the  Eabbinical  sources,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  whatever  that  the  fifteenth  of  Ab  was  the  principal  day  ;  see  MegiUath 
Taanith,  sec.  xi. ;  ^Mishna,  Taanith  iv.  5,  iv.  8 ;  in  general  also,  Taanith  iv.  4 ; 
Megilla  i.  3  ;  Jer.  Taanith  68^,  69^;  Megilla  70e  ;  Bah.  Taanith  28a-31a, 

^^2  Mishna,  Taanith  iv.  5 :  "  The  dates  fixed  for  the  furnishing  of  the 
wood  on  the  part  of  the  priests  and  the  people  were  the  following  nine 
days : — 

1.  On  the  first  of  Nisan  it  was  furnished  by  the  family  of  Arach  of  the 

tribe  of  Judah  (comp.  Ezra  ii.  5  ;  Neh.  vii.  10). 

2.  On  the  twentieth  of  Tammus  by  the  family  of  David  of  the  tribe  of 

Judah  (comp.  Ezra  viii.  2). 

3.  On  the  fifth  of  Ab  by  the  family  of  Pareosh  of  the  tribe  of  Judah 

(comp.  Ezra  ii.  3,  viii.  3,  x.  25 ;  Neh.  iii.  25,  vii.  8,  x.  15). 

4.  On  the  seventh  of  Ab  by  the  family  of  Jonadab  the  Recliabite  (comp. 

2  Kings  X.  15,  23  ;  Jer.  xxxv.  8 ;  1  Chron.  ii.  55). 

5.  On  the  tenth  of  Ab  by  the  family  of  Senaa  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin 

(comp.  Ezra  ii.  35 ;  Neh.  iii.  3,  vii.  38). 

6.  On  the  fifteenth  of  Ab  by  the  family  of  Sattu  of  the  tribe  of  Judah 

(comp.  Ezra  ii.  8,  x.  27  ;  Neh.  vii.  13,  x.  15). 
On  this  same  day  by  The  priests. 
The  Levites. 

Those  of  unknown  descent. 
The  Bene  Gonhe  Eli  and  the  Bene  Koz'e  Kezi'oth. 

7.  On  the  twentieth  of  Ab  by  the  family  of  Pachath-JSIoah  of  the  tribe  of 

Judah  (comp.  Ezra  ii.  6,  viii.  4,  x.  30;  Neh.  iii.  11,  vii.  11,  x.  15). 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP.        253 

Every  species  of  wood  was  allowable  except  that  of  the  olive 
and  the  vine."^ 

Then,  in  the  last  place,  freev:ill  offerings  formed  a  copious 
source  of  wealth  for  the  temple.  We  have  already  stated  that 
probably  the  largest  share  of  the  vows  did  not  fall  to  the  priests 
personally,  but  was  used  to  defray  the  expenses  incurred  in 
connection  with  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  (see  p.  247, 
above).  But  however  this  might  be,  that  was  certainly  the 
case  with  regard  to  those  vows  that  were  formed  for  some 
particular  purpose,  as  well  as  those  other  voluntary  gifts  which 
did  not  assume  exactly  the  character  of  a  vow."*  Very  often 
objects  were  presented  that  could  be  turned  to  account  either 
in  connection  with  the  services  of  the  temple  or  in  the  way 
of  ornamenting  it.^^^  For  example,  to  mention  just  a  single 
instance,  one  could  present  so  much  gold  in  the  shape  of  a  few 
leaves,  or  grapes,  or  clusters  of  grapes,  with  a  view  to  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  golden  vine  that  was  placed  over  the  entrance  to 
the  temple ;  "*  the  wealthy  Alabarch  Alexander  of  Alexandria 
provided  the  gold  and  silver  with  which  the  gates  of  the 
court  were  covered ; "'  nor  was  it  uncommon  for  distinguished 
Gentiles  to  present  gifts  to  the  temple  (on  this  see  close  of 
present  paragraph).  As  a  rule,  however,  the  gifts  were 
bestowed  in  the  shape  of  money,  and  then  even  the  poor 
widow's  mite  was  not  unwelcome  (Mark  xii.  41-44 ;  Luke 
xxi.  1-4).  In  the  treasury  of  the  temple  thirteen  trumpet- 
shaped  boxes  were  erected,  and  into  these  the  money  was 
dropped  that  was  intended  for  the  various  purposes  connected 
with  the  religious  services.     No  fewer  than  six  of  those  boxes 

8.  On  the  twentieth  of  Elul  by  tlie  family  of  Adin  of  the  tribe  of  Jndah 

(comp.  Ezra  ii.  15,  viii.  6  ;  Neh.  vii.  20,  x.  17). 

9.  On  the  first  of  Tebeth  by  the  family  of  Pareosh  for  the  second  time." 
^12  Tamid  ii,  3.     Otherwise,  according  to  the  Book  of  Jubilees,  chap.  xxi. 

(in  Ewald's  Jahrb.  der.  hihi.  Wissensch.  iii.  19).  Tcstam.  xii.  Patriarch. 
Levi,  chap.  ix. 

^^*  That  at  least  a  formal  distinction  was  made  between  I'oics  (am;)  and 
freewill  oJfcriv(/s  (n"i313)  may  be  seen  from  Mefjilla  i.  6. 

^^^  See  in  general,  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  13.  6  ;  Misbna,  .Joma  iii.  10. 

"«  Middoth  iii.  8,/«.  i"  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  3. 


254        §  24,    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

were  for  the  reception  of  "  voluntary  gifts  "  pure  and  simple, 
without  the  object  for  which  they  were  intended  being  further 
specified ;  and  the  whole  of  these  latter  were  expended,  at 
least  so  the  Mishna  affirms,  in  the  purchase  of  burnt-offerings 
(just  because  it  was  supposed  that  in  these  most  benefit 
would,  so  to  speak,  accrue  to  God)/^ 


III.  THE  VARIOUS  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  PRIESTHOOD. 

As  the  priests  were  so  numerous,  their  emoluments  so 
plentiful,  and  their  functions  so  varied,  it  was  necessary  that 
there  should  also  be  an  extensive  apportioning  among  them 
of  the  different  departments  of  the  service.  As  we  have 
already  pointed  out  in  a  previous  section,  the  whole  priest- 
hood was  divided  into  twenty-four  families,  each  of  which 
formed  a  distinct  body,  with  presidents  and  elders  at  its  head. 
But  apart  from  this  social  organization  of  the  entire  order, 
there  was  further,  the  organism  of  the  si^ecial  functions  con- 
nected with  the  multifarious  services  of  the  sanctuary.  Of 
those  special  offices  there  were  two  that  (at  least  during  the 
last  century  of  the  temple's  existence,  to  which  period  the 
following  account  is  to  be  understood  as  applying)  were 
conspicuous  above  all  the  others,  and  to  these  we  will  here 
assign  the  foremost  place. 

1.  The  head  of  the  whole  priesthood  was  the  supreme,  or  as 
we  usually  designate  him,  the  high  luvtest,  i)nJ  pa,  äp'xiepev'i}^^ 
The  characteristic  feature  about  the  position  of  this  distin- 
guished functionary  was  the  combining  in  one  and  the  same 
person  of  both  a  civil  and  a  sacred  dignity.     Not  only  was  he 

^^®  Shekalim  vi.  5,  6. 

119  Comp,  on  this  functionary,  Winer's  iteaZ«'ö?-/er&.  under  word.  Oehler's 
art.  "  Hoherpriester,"  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl.  (1st  ed.  vol.  vi.  pp.  198-206, 
2nd  ed.  vi.  pp.  237-245,  revised  by  Delitzsch),  and  the  literature  quoted  in 
both  those  works  ;  also  Graf's  art.  "  Priester,"  in  Schenkel's  Bihellex.  Well- 
hausen's  Gesch.  Israels,  i.  pp.  153-156.  Riehm,  Handwörterb.  des  hihi.  Alter- 
tums, under  word. 


§  24.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESIIIP.        255 

the  supreme  religious  functionary,  the  one  to  wlioni  alone 
pertained  the  privilege  of  performing  certain  acts  of  worship 
of  the  highest  religious  significance,  such  as,  above  all,  the 
offering  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  great  day  of  atonement,  but 
he  was  also,  at  the  same  time,  the  supreme  civil  head  of  the 
people,  the  supreme  head  of  the  State,  in  so  far,  that  is,  as  the 
State  was  not  under  the  sway  of  foreign  rulers.  In  the  days 
of  national  independence  the  hereditary  Asmonaean  high 
priests  were  priests  and  kings  at  one  and  the  same  time ; 
while,  at  a  later  period  again,  the  high  priests  were,  at  least 
the  presidents  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  even  in  all  political 
matters,  the  supreme  representatives  of  the  people  in  their 
relations  with  the  Eomans  (for  details,  see  §  23.  IV., 
above).  As  was  to  be  expected,  considering  the  distinguished 
social  position  which  he  held,  the  high  priest  did  not 
officiate  except  on  festival  occasions.  He  was,  in  fact,  legally 
bound  to  do  so  only  on  the  great  day  of  atonement,  when  he 
was  called  upon  to  offer  before  the  Lord  the  great  sin-offering 
of  the  people  (Lev.  xvi.) ;  though,  according  to  later  usage,  he 
was  further  required  to  offer  the  daily  sacrifice  during  the 
week  immediately  preceding  the  great  day  of  atonement.^'" 
Otherwise  he  was  left  perfectly  free  to  sacrifice  only  when 
he  felt  disposed  to  do  so.^'^  According  to  the  testimony  of 
Josephus,  he  officiated,  as  a  rule,  every  Sabbath  day,  and  on 
the  occasion  of  the  new  moons  or  other  festivals  in  the  course 
of  the  year.^"  We  must  beware  of  confounding  with  the 
sacrifices  just  mentioned,  and  which  he  offered  as  representing 
the  people  and  in  their  name,  the  daily  meat-oflering  which 
he  required  to  offer  purely  on  his  own  account  (Lev.  vi.  12-lG). 
But  on  those  latter  occasions  it  was  not  so  much  required  that 
he  himself  should  officiate   (which  he  seldom  did)  as  that  he 

*-"  Joma  i.  2.  ^^^  Joma  i.  2  ;   Tamld  vii.  3. 

'-2  Bell.  Jud.  V.  5.  7  :  6Zs  oip-)(,tipiv;  kuf,it  fciv  avu  uvtci;,  cch'/'  oi/x.  eiti,  rett; 
0  sßoofAXTt  Kxl  i/ovfiYjvtui;  Kdl  It  Tt:  ioprvi  ■rröt.Tpt'i:  vi  r.otv/iyvpig  CT«yO/5,ao?  «yo- 
yAvY,  6t  h'jvg.  It  further  appears  tliat  the  higli-prie.stly  functions  had  been 
actually  discharged  by  the  Asuionaean  princes.  See  Joseph.  Antt.  xiiL 
10.  3  (John  Hyrcanus),  xiii.  13.  f)  (Akxander  Jannacns). 


256         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  "WORSHIP. 

should  defray  the  cost  of  the  offerings.^^^  The  somewhat 
unique  character  of  the  high  priest's  position  found  further 
expression  in  the  special  purity  and  holiness  that  were 
expected  of  him  (see  pp.  211,  214,  above),  as  well  as  in  the 
gorgeous  official  attire  which  he  wore  when  exercising  his 
sacred  functions.^^*  Only  at  that  part  of  the  service  on  the 
great  day  of  atonement  at  which  he  entered  the  holy  of  holies, 
he  wore  a  simple  white  dress,  which  however  was  made  of 
the  most  expensive  Pelusian  and  Indian  linen  (or  cotton  V)}^^ 

^23  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  10.  7.  For  a  fuller  treatment  of  the  matter,  see 
chap.  iv.  below. 

^-*  The  Biblical  and  post-Biblical  sources  dwell  with  peculiar  delight  upon 
the  splendour  of  this  attire.  See  Ex.  xxviii.  and  xxix.  ;  Sirach  xlv.  6-13, 
1.  5  S.  Aristeas,  ed.  Mor.  Schmidt,  in  Merx'  Archiv,  i.  271.  21-272.  9  (in 
Havercamp's  Josephus,  ii.  2.  113).  Philo,  Vita  Mosis,  iii.  11-14  (ed.  Mang. 
ii.  151-155)  ;  De  monarchia,  ii.  5,  6  (ed.  Mang.  ii.  225-227).  Joseph.  Antt. 
iii.  7.  4-7,  and  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  7.  Mishna,  Joma  vii.  5.  Jerome's  Epist.  ad 
Fahiolam,ch?ip.x.-xvm.  (ed.Vallarsi,i. 360-366).  Among  the  literature  given 
at  the  head  of  this  section  we  would  specially  refer  the  reader  to  Joh.  Braun, 
Vestitus  sacerdotum  Hebraeorum,  Amst.  1680.  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jud.  Heiligih. 
book  iii.  chap,  iv.-viii.  Bened.  Dav.  Carpzov,  De  pontißcum  Hehraeorum- 
vestitu  sacro  (in  Ugolini's  Tlies.  vol.  xii.,  ibid,  in  vols.  xii.  and  xiii.,  and  other 
monographs  besides).  Ugolini's  Thes.  vol.  xiii.  pp.  163-434.  Bäiir's  Sym- 
bolik des  mos.  Cult.  ii.  61-165.  Leyrer's  art.  "  Kleider,  heilige  bei  den 
Hebräern,"  in  Herzog's  Real-EncijcL,  1st  ed.  vol.  vii.  714-722,  and  the  litera- 
ture quoted  tliere.  Haneberg,  Die  relig.  Altcrthümer  der  Bibel,  pp.  534-555, 
De  Saulcy,  Bevue  archeologiqiie,  new  series,  vol.  xx.  1869,  pp.  91-115. 
Likewise  the  literature  of  the  subject  of  the  high  priest  quoted  in  note  119. 
In  the  library  of  the  University  of  Giessen  there  is  a  very  learned  work  in 
manuscript  by  Martinus  Mauritii,  entitled  Dc  re  vestiaria  Hebraeorum,  1685 
{Cod.  Gissens.  593-595).  During  the  Roman  period  a  serious  political  dis- 
pute arose  about  the  custody  of  the  high  priest's  dress,  see  Joseph.  Antt.  xv. 
11. 4,  xviii.  4.  3,  xx.  1.  1,  2  ;  further  Theol.  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1872,  pp.  627-630. 
At  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  this  splendid  attire  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Romans  (Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  8.  3). 

1-^  Lev.  xvi.  4.  Mishna,  Joma  iii.  7  (on  the  materials  here  referred  to, 
comp,  note  215,  below).  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  7  :  zavzyiv  ^h  (Zv  rviv 
iudvircc  \ov>c\  i(p6pii  Tov  äXhüv  •/,pö'jov,  'htroripxii  S'  ecviT^xfißxuiv  oVöVg  [öä] 
slaioi  eis  to  öilvrou.  The  words  within  brackets  are  here  to  be  deleted. 
The  high  priest  wore  the  linen  dress  (p^  ""nin)  only  when  performing 
those  parts  of  the  service  that  had  special  reference  to  the  great  day  of 
atonement.  When  performing  the  others  however,  he  wore  his  more 
gorgeous  dress  (nnT  nj^)  on  the  great  day  of"  atonement  as  well  as  on  any 
other  occasion.  For  further  particulars  on  this  point,  see  Joma  iii.  4.  6, 
vii.  1.  3,  4 ;  comp,  besides,  Joseph.  Antt.  4.  3  (when  the  Romans  had  the 


§  24.    THE  PrJESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOPSIIIP.        257 

2.  Next  to  the  high  priest  in  point  of  rank  came  the  ]iO 
or  p.p,  Aramaic  !^D,  regarding  whose  functions  the  conceptions 
of  the  Eabbinical  authorities  are  anything  but  clear.  They 
seem  to  think  that  he  was  simply  the  representative  of  the 
high  priest,  and  that  his  chief  function  was  to  act  as  the 
substitute  of  this  latter,  should  he  happen  to  be  disqualified 
for  taking  part  in  tlie  worship  in  consequence  of  Levitical 
defilement ;  and  this  view  has  also  continued  to  be  the  prevail- 
ing one  among  Christian  scholars  down  to  the  present  day.''"" 
But  it  is  undoubtedly  erroneous.  Among  all  the  passages  in 
the  Mishna  in  which  the  po  is  mentioned  there  is  not  one 
that  throws  any  further  light  whatever  upon  his  official 
position.  All  they  can  be  said  to  tell  us  is  that  he  stood  next 
to  the  high  priest  in  point  of  rank.  When  the  high  priest 
drew  the  lot,  in  the  case  of  the  two  he-goats,  on  the  great  day 
of  atonement,  the  po  stood  at  his  right  hand,  while  the  presi- 
dent of  the  division  or  course  that  happened  to  be  serving 
(3S  IVl  Ji'S"))  was  at  his  left.^"'  Again,  when  he  had  occasion 
to  read  a  portion  from  the  Scriptures,  the  president  of  the 
synagogue  handed  the  roll  to  the  pD,  who  in  turn  passed  it  to 
the  high  priest.^"^  Also  when  he  happened  to  offer  the  daily 
sacrifice,  the  po  was  still  found  at  his  side.^'''  From  all  this 
however   we   are   not  at  liberty  to  infer   that  the    segan  (I 

dress  iu  their  custody  they  allowed  the  Jews  to  have  the  use  of  it  rpia'ty 
eoprali  iKÖtarov  'irovg  ku.\  y,ot,rdi  t'/ji/  v/ianixu,  i.e.  on  the  great  day  of 
atonement). 

^^^  See  in  general,  Buxtorf's  Lex.  Chakl.  under  word  po.  Seiden,  De 
successione  in  pontifical  inn  Ebraeoram,  ii.  1.  Lifjhtfoot,  Miitislcrium  (enipli, 
V.  1  (^Oj>p.  i.  687  f.).  Sheringam  on  Joma  iii.  9  (iu  Surenhusius'  Mi.tJtna, 
ii.  223).  Carpzov^  Apparatus  historico-criticus,  p.  98  f.  Vitringa,  Ohscr- 
vationes  sacrae  (1723),  lib.  vi.  cap.  xxiii.  pp.  517-531.  Blossius,  1711, 
Overkanipf,  1739  (both  quoted  by  Mcusel,  BibUothera  historica,  i.  2.  165). 
Quandt,  De  pouti/icis  maximi  stijf'ragaiieo  (in  Ugoliiii's  Thes.  vol.  xii.  pp. 
963-1028).  Oehler's  art.  "  Hoherpriester,"  in  Herzog's  Iical-EncycL,  Isted. 
vi.  204.  Haneberg,  Die  relifj.  Altcrth.  der  Bibel,  p.  558  f.  Levy,  Chald. 
Worth,  under  word  po.  Idem,  Neuhehr.  Wörterh.  under  same  word.  Oa 
the  W^^iO  in  the  Old  Testament,  consult  Gesenius'  Tliesaiiru.'i,  under  word. 

'^^''  .Joma  iii.  9,  iv.  1.  ^'^*  Joma  vii.  1  ;  Sola  vii.  7-8. 

^■^  Tamid  vii.  3. 
DIV.  11.  VOL.  L  B 


258         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

prefer  this  Aramaic  form  because  we  are  unable  to  say  for 
certain  what  the  Hebrew  form  of  the  singular  was)  was 
intended  to  act  as  the  high  priest's  substitute  on  those 
occasions  on  which  he  was  prevented  from  officiating  himself. 
Such  an  inference  would  be  decidedly  wrong.  For  what  the 
Mishna  says  with  regard  to  this  matter  of  the  substitute  is 
rather  to  this  efiect :  "  Seven  days  before  the  great  day  of 
atonement  it  is  customary  to  appoint  some  other  priest  (p3 
"inx)  to  be  ready  to  take  the  place  of  the  high  priest  in  the 
event  of  any  accident  happening  to  the  latter  calculated  to 
interrupt  the  service."  ^^^  This  would  surely  have  been 
extremely  superfluous  if  there  had  been  a  permanent  official 
whose  duty  it  was  to  act  as  the  liigh  priest's  representative  or 
substitute.  It  appears  to  me  that  we  need  have  no  difficulty 
in  arriving  at  a  true  and  distinct  conception  as  to  what  was 
the  real  position  of  the  segan,  if  we  will  only  take  due  note 
of  the  way  in  which  the  term  d^jjd  is  rendered  in  the  Septua- 
gint.  For  we  find  that  there  it  is  almost  invariably  repre- 
sented by  (TTparrj^ol}^^  Consequently,  the  pD  can  have  been 
no  other  than  the  arpar7]yo<i  rov  lepov,  the  ccqitain  of  the  temple, 
whom  we  find  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Greek  sources, 
both  in  Josephus  and  the  New  Testament.^^^  To  this  func- 
tionary was  entrusted  the  chief  superintendence  of  the 
arrangements  for  preserving  order  in  and  around  the  temple. 
And  so  when  we  consider  the  very  important  nature  of  this 

i^f*  Joma  i.  1. 

131  So  Jer.  li.  23,  28,  57 ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  6,  12,  23  ;  Ezra  ix.  2  (Vulgate 
omits  it)  ;  Neh,  ii.  16,  iv.  8,  xii.  40,  xiii.  11  ;  Dan.  iii.  2,  27,  vi.  8.  In  a 
very  few  instances  we  have  äpxouTig,  Isa.  xli.  25  ;  Neh.  iv.  13,  v.  7,  vii.  5 ; 
and,  on  one  solitary  occasion,  aetrpx'Trxi,  Dan.  ii.  48. 

i'*^  Acts  iv.  1  :  0  arpctTYiyor  ^^i  /^^(jy.  Similarly  Acts  v.  24,  26.  Josephus, 
Amt.  XX.  6.  2:  ' Kvctvictv  rov  dpxupi»  y-ul  rou  aTpxrrr/ov  " Kuxvou.  Bell. 
Jiid.  vi.  5.  3  :  ol  rov  hpov  (puf^xKig  vjy^/n'hxv  ru  urpxT/iyu.  Antt.  XX.  9.  3: 
TO»  ypctiz-i^ccTix  Tov  (jr pxT-fiyoZurog  'E7\ix^xpov.  Bcll.  Jucl.  u.  17.  2: 
''ET^ex^xpo;  viog  ''Auxulbv  roi>  xpxnp^^;,  vixvix;  dpxavrxTo:,  dTpxT-dyuv 
TOTS.  It  is  quite  possible  that,  in  several  of  the  last-mentioned  passages, 
instead  of  its  being  the  chief  arpxrnyos  that  was  meant,  it  was  rather  one  of 
the  subordinate  arpxTriyol  who  were  also  among  the  temple  officials,  as  will 
be  pointed  out  immediately. 


§  21.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  "WORSHIP.         259 

office,  we  can  quite  easily  understand  how  the  priest  who  had 
the  honour  to  liold  it  should  have  been  regarded  as  second 
only  to  the  high  priest  himself. 

Besides  the  segan  or  crTpaTr]'y6<i  in  the  singular,  we  also 
meet  with  the  plural  form  D"'JJD  or  crrpaTrjyoL  When  the 
festive  processions  of  the  country  people  went  up  to  Jerusalem 
with  the  first-fruits,  it  was  usual  for  the  foremost  among  the 
priests  to  go  out  to  meet  them,  namely  the  nina  and  DV??  and 
nniiT3.^^^  The  two  first  of  those  categories,  the  nina  and 
tjie  Q''3Jp,  correspond  to  the  ol  dp-x^iepei<;  kol  aTparrjyoi  of  Luke 
xxii.  4,  52.^^*  What  we  are  to  understand  by  the  apxt^peh 
has  been  already  pointed  out  at  p.  201  ff.  above.  But  the 
Q^iiD  or  (TTpaTrjyoL  are  in  any  case,  so  far  as  the  nature  of 
their  office  is  concerned,  of  the  same  order  as  the  po  or 
(TTpaTfjyo'i,  only  holding  a  somewhat  lower  rank,  and  therefore 
captains  of  the  temple  police  as  much  as,  though  sul^ordinate 
to,  the  chief  aTpaTT]y6<i}^*^ 

In  the  lists  of  the  priests  that  are  given  in  several  passages 
in  the  Talmud  those  who  rank  next  to  the  hiyh  priest  and  tlie 
scgan  are  the  presidents  of  the  courses  of  service,  those  at  the 
head  of  the  twenty-four  leading  divisions  ("irjcion  t'sn)  being 
mentioned  first,  and  those  at  the  head  of  the  sub-divisions 
(as  IT'S  CS"i)  coming  next.""  The  functions  of  those  presidents 
had  however  no  immediate  reference  to  the  worship,  but  to 
the    priesthood    as    a    corporate    body,  in    which    aspect  we 

^^^  Bikkurim  iii.  3. 

^3*  The  nins  and  D''JJD  are  also  frequently  conjoined  in  this  way  in  tlie 
Old  Testament  (Jer.  li.  23,  28,  57  ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  6,  12,  23).  In  sucii  ca-ses 
the  Septuagint  rendering  is,  as  a  rule,  iiyi/4,6vss  (or  iiyovtuevot)  kxI  arpunnyoi, 
in  one  instance  (Jer.  li.  57)  it  is  upxovTs:  x.eii  aTpatrrr/ol.  Consequently  in 
the  passage  quoted  from  the  Mishna,  viz.  Bikkurim  iii.  3,  as  above,  in 
which  it  is  priests  that  are  in  question,  the  nins  can  scarcely  be  other  than 
the  ccD'^npii;,  for  tlie  äpx,o:/Ti;  among  the  priests  arc  simply  the  doxupii;- 
This  is  corroborated  by  the  form  of  expression  made  use  of  by  Luke. 

134a  Possibly  the  D^^nsn  po,  R.  Chananiah,  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
Mishna,  was  a  po  of  this  sort.     On  thi.s  personage,  see  §  25.  IV. 

^^5  See  especially,  Tosefta  Horajdh,  Jiv.  (ed.  Zuckerraaudel,  p.  476); 
Jer.  Jlnrajoth  48'',  in  Ugolini's  Thenonnis;  vol.  xiii.  p.  870. 


260         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  of  them  at  p.  2  2  0  f.  The 
sacred  functions,  properly  so  called,  which  still  fall  to  be 
mentioned  here  besides  those  of  the  high  priest  and  the  segan, 
are  those  that  related  partly  to  the  cahninistration  of  the 
possessions  and  stores  helonging  to  the  sanctuary,  partly  to  the 
superintendence  of  the  tcmyle  police,  and  partly  to  the  religious 
services  themselves.  All  that  we  know  with  respect  to  those 
three  categories  is  substantially  as  follows.^^^ 

I.  A  very  important  function  was  that  of  the  administra- 
tion of  the  vast  amount  of  property  belonging  to  the  temple. 
The  store-chambers  of  the  sanctuary  were  filled  with  posses- 
sions of  multifarious  kinds  piled  in  masses  one  upon  another. 
First  there  were  the  titensils  employed  in  the  sacrificial 
worship,  which  of  themselves  represented  a  handsome  sum, 
and  consisting  of  a  whole  host  of  gold  and  silver  basins,  cups, 
pots  and  articles  of  a  like  kind  used  for  such  purposes  as 
catching  up  and  sprinkling  the  blood,  for  offering  the  frank- 
incense and  the  meat-  and  drink-offerings,  etc.^^'^  Again  there 
were  large  quantities  of  curtains,  and  priests'  garments,  and  of 
the  materials  required  for  making  them.^^*  And  there  were, 
in  particular,  vast  collections  of  natural  products,  viz. :  flour 
and  oil  for  the  meat-offerings,  wine  for  the  drink-offerings, 
fragrant  substances  with  which  to  make  the  frankincense,  and 
in  addition  to  these  things,  the  offerings  contributed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  priests.^^'^     But,  above  all,  there  were   also  the 

13G  Comp.  Ligbtfoot,  Ministerium  ternpli,  cap.  v.  and  vii.  Herzfeld's 
Geschichte  des  Volkes  Jisrael,  i.  387-424.  Haneberg,  Die  relig.  Alterth.  p. 
555  £f.  Graf  in  Merx'  Archiv,  i.  226-232.  Also  in  general  the  literature 
of  the  subject  of  the  Levites  as  quoted  in  note  43  above. 

137  See  in  general,  Ezra  i.  9-11,  viii.  26,  27  ;  1  Mace.  i.  21-23  ;  Joseph. 
Antt.  xiv,  4.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  6,  v.  13.  6,  vi.  5.  2,  vi.  8.  3  ;  Joma  iii.  10, 
iv.  4.  According  to  Tamid  iii.  4,  ninety-three  gold  and  silver  utensils  were 
required  for  the  daily  service  ;  while,  according  to  Chagiga  iii.  8,  three  sets 
of  each  were  kept.  For  a  few  particulars,  see  Ex.  xxv.  29,  38,  xxvii.  3, 
xxxvii.  16,  23,  xxxviii.  3  ;  Num.  iv.  7,  9,  14. 

138  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  5.  2,  vi.  8.  3. 

1-9  Neh.  xii.  44,  xiii.  5,  9,  l:i ;  1  Chron.  ix.  20 ;  Bell.  Jud.  v.  13,  6,  vL 
8.  3 ;  Antt.  xiv.  4.  4  ;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  6. 


§  24.    THE  nilESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         2G1 

large  sums  of  money  that  were  deposited  in  the  store-houses  of 
the  temple,  and  which  were  of  such  a  colossal  character  that 
they  uot  unfrequently  tempted  greedy  foreign  potentates  to 
plunder  them,  and  yet  it  would  appear  that  they  were  always 
speedily  replaced."*^  Then,  in  the  last  place,  there  fall  to 
be  added  to  the  heaps  of  money  stored  in  tlie  temple  the 
various  sums  deposited  there  by  private  individuals ;  for  it 
was  quite  common  to  lodge  such  deposits  in  the  temple  from 
a  feeling  that  the  sacredness  of  the  place  afforded  the  best 
possible  guarantee  for  their  security."^  All  the  money  and 
the  various  articles  of  value  were  kept  in  separate  reposi- 
tories {<ya^o(f)v\dKta)  in  the  inner  court  of  the  temple,  and 
not  only  did  they  require  to  be  constantly  watched,  but  in 
consequence  of  the  receiving  on  the  one  hand  and  giving  out 
on  the  other  that  were  continually  going  on,  it  was  necessary 
that  they  should  be  under  careful  administration.^*^ 

The  treasurers,  to  whom  the  administration  in  question  was 
entrusted,  were  called  ya^o^vXaKe^  in   Greek  "^  and  D^I^Ta  in 

^*^  Attempt  to  plunder  by  Hdiodnrns  (2  Mace,  iii.)  ;  by  Antiochus 
Epiphanes  (1  Mace.  i.  21-23).  Pompey  leaves  the  treasury  iutact  {Antt. 
xiv.  4.  4;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  7.  6);  Crassiis  plunders  it  (Antt.  xiv.  7.  1  ;  Bill. 
Jud.  i.  8.  8,  carrying  off  2000  talents)  ;  so  also  Sahiniis,  after  the  death  of 
Herod  (.1»«.  xvii.  10.  2,  fin.;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  3.  3,  fin.)  ;  Pilate  (Antt.  xviii. 
3.  2 ;  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  9.  4)  ;  Florus  (Bell.  Jud.  ü.  14.  6).  Comp,  besides,  on 
the  ispo;  ÖYiTxvpö;  in  general,  Matt,  xxvii.  6  ;  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  1  ; 
Antt.  XX.  9.  7. 

^*^  2  Mace.  iii.  10-12,  15.  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  5.  2.  This  was  often 
done  in  the  case  of  heathen  temples  as  well.  See  in  general,  Winer's 
Realwörterh.,  art.  "  Hinterlage."  Grimm,  Excyet.  Handb.  zu  den  Apokryphen, 
note  on  2  Mace.  iii.  10.  Marquardt,  llönüsche  Staatsccrwaltuny,  vol.  iii. 
(1878)  p.  210.  Hermann  and  Blumner,  Lehrh.  der  griechischen  Privatcdter- 
thümer  (1882),  p.  4.06  f. 

^*-  On  the  -/u^r,(pv7iä.x,{x,  see  especially,  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  2,  fin.,  vi.  5. 
2  ;  Antt.  xix.  6.  1  ;  Neh.  xii.  44,  xiii.  5,  9,  12,  13.  By  the  y»^o(pv'hetKiov 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  we  are  not  to  understand  u  trea.'<ure 
chamher  but  a  treasury  box  (Mark  xii.  41,  43  ;  Luke  xii.  1  ;  probably  also 
John  viii.  20).  According  to  Shel-alim  vi.  5,  there  were  in  the  temple 
thirteen  money  chests  made  in  the  form  of  trumpets. 

^•''  .1»^/.  XV.  11.  4,  xviii.  4.  3  (the  yct^rjj:i''AixKs;  had  the  custody  of  the 
high  priest's  dress).  Antt.  xx.  8.  11  :  'lay.xr,Aov  tÖv  doxtipiot,  xxl  EhKiuu 
TO*  yu.^oipv'ii  »KU  (sent  on  an  embassy  to  Rome).     Bell.  Jud.  \u  8.  3: 


262         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

Hebrew.^"  Isov  were  the  functions  of  those  officials  confined 
merely  to  the  money  in  the  temple,  but  extended  to  the 
administration  of  all  the  possessions  generally,  that  fell  under 
any  of  the  categories  just  mentioned.  They  had  the  custody 
of  the  sacred  utensils,^*^  the  veils,  and  the  priests'  garments;"^ 
they  took  charge  of  the  flour  for  the  meat-offerings  and  of  the 
wine  for  the  drink-offerings ;  ^*'  it  was  their  duty  to  take 
delivery  of  things  consecrated  (or  things  presented  to  the 
temple),  or  to  return  them  again  on  the  ransom  being  duly 
paid ;  "^  and  they  also  purchased  wood  ^^^  and  gathered  in  the 
half-shekel  tax.^'^  Of  course  among  the  treasurers  too  there 
were  once  more  gradations  of  rank.  According  to  the  state- 
ments of  the  Old  Testament,  it  would  seem  as  though  the 
whole  of  those  offices  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Levites.^''^ 
This  -may  have  been  actually  the  case  so  far  as  the  more 
subordinate  duties  were  concerned,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
whatever  that  the  more  important  ones  w^ere  in  the  hands  of 
the  priests.  The  fact  is  there  is  mention  in  Josephus  of  a 
particular  occasion  on  which  the  ^a^otpvXa^  (perhaps  the  chief 
one  of  his  class)  is  put  immediately  on  a  level  with  the  high 
priest,  from  his  being  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  temple  officials.^^^  We  also  find  that  elsewhere  the 
D''"i3T3    are   reckoned   among  the   liigher   functionaries   of  the 

6  yu^oCpv'Kxi,  roil  Upov  (^ivex;  (surrenders  the  priests'  garments  to  the 
Romans).  Comp,  also  Antt.  xiv.  7.  1  :  6  ruu  6/i7otvpci>v  (pv'^xB,  hpivg, 
''KXix^xpo;  6'vo/y^x  .  .  .  7ri'77iariV[/.ivo;  rv^'j  rcju  KXrci—iraaf^ciruv  -zoi  uxoii 
(pv'Ac<.K-/iv  (in  the  time  of  Crassus). 

^*^  Pea  i.  6,  /?«.,  ii.  S,ßn.,  iv.  8  ;  Challa  iii.  3-4 ;  Bikkurim  iii.  3  ;  Sliekalim 
ii.  1,  V.  2,  6  ;  Menachoth  viii.  2,  7  ;  Meila  iii.  8.  The  term  occurs  in  the 
Old  Testament  likewise,  Ezra  i.  8,  vii.  21.  Comp,  further,  Levy,  Chald. 
Wörtei-b.  under  word.     Idem,  Neuliehr.  Wörter!),  under  word. 

115  Shekalim  v.  6 ;  1  Chron.  ix.  28. 

lie  Joseph.  Antt.  xiv.  7.  1,  xv.  11.4;  xviii.  4.  3  ;  liell.  Jud.  vi.  8.  3. 

11"  Menacliotli  viii.  2,  7. 

lis  Pea  i.  6,^n.,  ii.  8,/n.,  iv.  8 :  Challa  iii.  3-4. 

119  Meila  iii.  8.  i^f*  Shekalim  ii.  1. 

151  1  Chron.  ix.  28,  29,  xxvi.  20-28;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  11-19.  The  predi- 
lection of  the  author  of  Chronicles  for  the  Levites  is  well  known.  Yet  in 
Neh.  xiii.  13  it  is  a  priest  that  is  found  at  the  head  of  the  treasurers. 

1*2  Antt.  XX.  8.  11  ;  see  note  143,  above. 


§  -24.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        2G3 

teniple.^'^''  When  the  Mishna  affirms  that  there  must  have  been 
at  least  three  D''"'3T3  in  the  temple/'*  it  is  certain  that  it  can  have 
had  in  view  only  the  head  treasurers  and  not  the  entire  staff  of 
officials  that  were  required  for  the  administration  of  the  treasury. 
It  is  probable  that,  under  the  category  of  treasury 
officials,  we  should  also  include  the  amarkelin  (p^aios), 
who  are  mentioned  once  in  the  Mishna  without  any  hint 
whatever  being  given  as  to  the  nature  of  their  functions,^'*^ 
the  consequence  beiug  that  the  Eabbinical  writers  indulge 
merely  in  empty  conjectures  on  the  point,  conjectures  based, 
to  some  extent,  upon  trivial  etymological  conceits/^^  The 
term  itself  is  of  Persian  origin,  and  means  a  "  member  of  the 
chamber  of  accounts,  or  an  accountant."  ^^^  Consequently  in 
the  Targum  of  Jonathan  we  find  that  in  2  Kings  xii.  1 0  and 
xxii.  4,  for  example,  the  term  n''^3"iDX  is  substituted  for  the 
Hebrew  expression  ^IBH  ""l^'^^  "keepers  of  the  threshold,"  by 
whom  the  priestly  treasurers  are  meant.  We  have  a  term 
in  every  way  identical  with  the  one  now  in  question  in  the 
Armenian  expression  hamaralcar,  which  in  like  manner 
denotes  an  official  having   charge   of    the    accounts   (a   chief 

1^'  Bikkurim  iii.  3  (see  p.  259,  above) ;  also  in  the  lists  of  the  various 
rauks  of  the  priests  given  iu  Tosefta,  Horajoth,  ßn.  (see  note  135),  the 
D^"I2T3  take  precedence  of  the  ordinary  priests,  while  these  latter  again  rank 
higher  than  the  Levites.  In  a  certain  Rabbinical  lamentation  over  the 
degeneracy  of  the  high  priests,  the  D^"i3T3  are  put  immediately  on  a  level 
with  them  precisely  as  in  Joscphus  ("  They  are  high  priests  and  their  sons 
are  pintj,  and  their  sons-in-law  pb^lOS-"  'i'o&eita,  Menachotli.fin.;  Bah. 
Pesachini  bl^.     Dercnbourg,  Hisloire,  p.  232,  note). 

1"  ShekaUm  v.  2.  •  iss  Shcknlim  v.  2. 

^^^  In  the  Tosefta,  Shckalhn  ii,  15  (ed.  Zuckermandel,  p.  177),  it  is 
affirmed  that  they  kept  the  seven  keys  of  the  seven  gates  of  the  court  (see 
also  Grätz,  Monatsschrift,  187G,  p.  441).  But  this  is  a  pure  conjecture 
founded  upon  a  statement  in  the  Mishna  to  the  effect  that  there  must  have 
been  at  least  seven  amarkelin.  An  attempt  is  made  to  exjjlain  the  term 
etymological ly  by  supposing  it  to  be  derived  either  from  p^  -iO  (lord  of  all), 
or  73  "IQX  (he  who  speaks  all,  i.e.  he  who  is  entitled  to  order  everything). 
See  in  general.  Levy's  Chald.  Worterb.  .f.r.  Idem,  yiuliel)):  Wörtcrb.  s.v. 
55D-IOS  and  'p^lD- 

^5"  Perles,  Etymologisclc  Stiidivn  (1871),  p.  106.  Comp.  Niildeke, 
Göttinger  yd.  Anztujtn  (1871),  149.     Idem,  Literar.  Centralbl.  1875,  p.  876. 


264         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD   AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOPSHIP. 

treasurer).'^  It  is  true  no  doubt  that  our  term  also  occurs 
elsewhere  in  the  Targums  in  the  more  comprehensive  sense  of 
chiefs  or  heads  generally.^^^  But  seeing  that,  as  a  rule,  the 
priestly  {"»^siöx  are  mentioned  along  with  the  pinTj/^''  we  may 
venture  to  regard  it  as  certain  that  they  also  belonged  to  the 
same  category  as  the  treasurers.  It  is  possible  that  they  were 
among  the  subordinate  officials  of  this  department ;  ^^^  but 
perhaps  the  distinction  between  the  gisbarim  and  the  amar- 
kelin  was  something  like  this,  that  while  to  the  former  was 
assigned  the  duty  of  receiving  and  taking  charge  of  the  various 
treasures,  the  latter,  on  the  other  hand,  were  entrusted  with 
the  task  of  distributing  among  the  priests  the  gifts  and 
offerings  that  were  intended  for  them.^^  Besides  the  two 
classes  just  mentioned,  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  mentions  yet  a 
third,  viz.  the  ;''p"'b'inp  {icadoXiKoi),  of  whom  however  the  ]\Iishna 
knows  nothing  whatever.^^'^ 

II.  For  the  duties  connected  with   the  ijolice  department, 

158  Prud'homme  (Journal  Asiallqne,  16th  series,  vol.  vii.  1866,  p.  115) 
renders  ifc  by  comptable  ou  caissier  chef.  Comp,  also  Levy  in  Geiger's  Jiid. 
Zeitschrift,  v.  1867,  p.  214  f.  Lagarde,  Armenische  Studien  {Abhandlungen 
der  Gottinger  Gesellsch.  der  Wisscnch.  vol.  xxii.  1877),  No.  1216. 

159  Buxtorf,  Lex.  Chald.,  and  Levy,  Chcdd.  Wörterb.  under  word. 

160  Besides  Shekalim  v.  2,  so  also  in  the  list  of  the  ranks  of  the  priests, 
Tosefta  Horajoth,  fin.,  and  in  the  lamentation  of  Tosefta  Menachuth,  fin. 
(see  note  153,  above). 

161  It  is  true  that,  in  the  list  of  the  grades  of  the  priests  Tosefta  Horajoth, 
fin.,  the  p^3"liOX  rank  higher  than  the  pl^TJ-  But  this  can  hardly  be  correct. 
See,  on  the  other  hand,  Skekalim  v.  2  ;  Tosefta  Menachoth,  fin.  lu  Bikknrim 
iii.  3,  the  jniU  ^^^  included  among  the  prominent  members  of  the  priest- 
hood, while  the  }''^31?:S  again  are  not  mentioned  at  all. 

16-  In  Chronicles  (2  Chron.  xxxi.  11-19)  those  officials  whose  duty  it 
was  to  receioe  the  gitts  for  the  priests  are  plainly  distinguished  from  those 
who  were  called  upon  to  distribute  them.  And  now  we  find  it  stated  in  the 
Mishna,  Shekalim  v.  2,  that  "it  is  usual  to  appoint  not  fewer  than  three 
gisbarim,  and  not  fewer  than  seven  amarkelim."  If  with  this  we  compare 
what  is  said  about  the  gathering  in  and  distributing  of  the  money  for  the 
poor  (Pea  viii.  7  :  "Two  take  charge  of  the  collecting  and  three  of  the 
distributing  of  it"),  it  is  not  unnatural  to  suppose  that  the  gisbarim  and 
the  amarkelim  would  stand  to  each  other  precisely  in  the  same  relation  as 
that  in  which  the  collectors  of  the  money  for  the  poor  stood  to  the  distri- 
butors of  it. 

"3  Jer.  Shekalim  v.  fol.  49». 


§  21.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOUSHIP.        2G5 

for  which  a  very  large  staff  of  officials  was  required,  it  M-as 
mostly  Le\'ites  that  were  employed.  In  early  times  indeed, 
and  down  even  to  the  days  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  the  "  gate- 
keepers "  (Q"'iyt^')  did  not  belong  as  yet  to  the  order  of  the 
Levites,  but  were  of  a  somewhat  lower  rank;  it  was  the 
author  of  the  Chronicles  who  was  the  first  to  include  these 
officials  also  among  the  number  of  the  Levites  (see  p.  224, 
above).  In  the  inner  court  the  duty  of  keeping  watch  and 
ward  was  discharged  by  the  priests  themselves.  The  author 
of  the  Chronicles,  and  subsequently  Philo  and  the  JMishna, 
have  furnished  us  with  several  details  regarding  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  department  now  in  question.^^*  We  learn  from 
the  first-mentioned  authority  that  there  were  twenty-four 
wards  in  all,  under  four  chiefs  or  captains,  and  that  they  were 
posted  on  the  east,  west,  north  and  south  sides  of  the  temple 
(1  Chron.  xxvi.  12-18,  also  ix.  17,  24-27).  The  statements 
of  this  writer  are  Lo  be  understood  as  applying  to  the  temple 
of  Zerubbabel.  But  the  area  of  the  temple  esplanade,  or  the 
so-called  outer  court,  was  afterwards  very  much  enlarged, 
especially  by  Herod,  so  that  it  now  formed  a  large  qnadrangle, 
its  longer  side  being  that  which  extended  from  north  to  south. 
Within  this  large  square  again  there  was  an  oblong  quad- 
rangular space  enclosed  by  strong  walls,  the  longer  side,  in 
this  instance,  running  from  west  to  east ;  this  was  the  so- 
called  inner  court,  or  "  the  court "  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word.  This  court  was  approached  by  a  flight  of  steps,  and  at 
the  foot  of  this  stair  was  a  railing  within  which  no  Gentile 
was  allowed  to  pass.  Any  Gentile  who  ventured  to  pass  this 
boundary  and  set  foot  within  the  inner  court  was  punished 
with  death  ;  and  the  lioman  authorities  respected  the  scruples 
of  the  Jews  in  regard  to  this  matter  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  sanctioned  the  execution  of  this  sentence  even  in  those 

^^*  See  in  general,  Opitii  Commentnrius  de  cu.stodia  lou/ili  nocinrna 
(Ugolini's  Thcs.  vol.  ix.  pp.  979-1076).  Winer's  Reahrörkrh.  ii.  ."JOO  f. 
Kneuckcr's  art.  "  Tempelpolizei,"  in  Scbenkel's  Bihclkx.  vol.  v.  p. 
484  ff. 


2G6         §  24.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOllSHIP. 

cases  in  wbicli  Eoman  citizens  had  been  the  offenders.^®^  To 
this  railing  notices  were  attached  at  certain  distances  from 
each  other,  with  the  prohibition  and  the  penalty  for  infringing 
it  inscribed  upon  them  in  Greek  and  Latin.'^**®  According  to 
Philo,  there  were  keepers  in  his  day  not  only  at  the  entrances 
to  the  inner  court,  but  likewise  at  the  gates  of  the  outer  one  as 
well,  one  of  their  principal  duties  being  to  see  that  the  pro- 
hibition in  question  was  rigidly  complied  with.  In  addition 
to  these  there  were  watchmen  patrolling  all  round  by  night 
and  by  day  to  make  sure  that  nothing  of  an  unseemly 
character  was  going  on  anywhere.'^^^  According  to  the  Mishna, 
there  were  twenty-one  points  at  which  the  Levites  kept  watch 
(at  night),  and  three  at  which  the  priests  did  so.  The  Leviti- 
cal  keepers  were  stationed  partly  at  the  gates  and  the  corners 
of  the  outer  court  (inside  of  it),  and  partly  at  the  gates  and 
corners  of  the  inner  court  (outside  of  it),  while  the  priestly 
guards  again  had  charge  of  the  inner  court.^^^     It  was  usual 

^^5  See  in  geueral,  Joseph.  Antt.  xv.  11.  5  ;  Bell.  Jiid.  v.  5.  2,  vi.  2.  4 ; 
Apiov.  ii.  8.  Philo,  Legat,  ad  Cajum,  §  31  (ed.  Äraiig.  ii.  577).  Mishna, 
Middoth  ii.  3  ;  Keliin  i.  8.  It  was  in  consequence  of  an  alleged  violation 
of  this  prohibition  on  the  part  of  the  Apostle  Piiul,  by  taking  Trophimus 
into  the  inner  court,  that  the  popular  tumult  arose  that  led  to  the  apostle's 
being  arrested  (Acts  xxi.  28).  For  the  judicial  proceedings  in  such  cases, 
comp,  further  p.  188,  above. 

^^6  One  of  those  inscriptions  was  discovered  and  published  in  the  year 
1871  by  Clermont-Ganneau.  For  an  account  of  it,  see  Clermont-Ganneau, 
Eevue  archeolofjique,  new  series,  vol.  xxiii.  1872,  pp.  214-231,  290-296, 
pi.  X.  Derenhouvg,  Journal  astaiique,  6th  series,  vol.  xx.  1872,  pp.  178-195. 
Piper,  Jahrh.f.  deutsche  Theol.  1876,  p.  51  f.    The  inscription  runs  thus: — 

MH0ENA  AAAOrENH  EISHO 

PETE20AI   ENT02  TOT  HE 

PI  TO   IE  PON  TPT<I)AKTOX  KAI 

IIEPIBOAPT  02  A  AN  AH 

<D©H   EATTni   A1TI02  E2 

TAI    AIA  TO  EHAKOAOT 

©EIN  ©ANATON. 
^'"'  Philo,  De pracmiis  saccrdotum,  sec.  vi.  (ed.  Mang.  ii.  236) :  Tovtuv  o!  yA» 
STTi  dvpoii;  'lOpvurxi  Trctp   oti/Txtc  ra-7:  itaöooi;  'Tzv'ho^poi'  oi  oi  iluu  x-ctTctiro  Trpouctov 

VTSp  TO!/  /X»!  TtV»  OJtl    oil   6ifCi;   'iX.6uTCt,  7)    IZKOUTX    iTTlßijVCil'    Ol     §£    iU    X.VKhU'TVipiVO- 

oTcvarj,  iv  /asost  öiUK.'Kripaox.fiiuoi  vuktcc  kuI  ij/icipau^  7iy.ipo(^v'KxKSi  »xi  vvxto- 
(pvXxKS;. 

i«8  Middotli  i.  1 ;  Tamid  i.  1. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        2G7 

for  a  captain  of  the  temple  to  go  round  at  night  to  see  tliat 
the  guards  were  not  sleeping  at  their  posts.^""  This  captain 
was  known  under  the  designation  of  ri^sn  if  ^"^-  Besides 
this  official,  there  is  also  occasional  mention  of  an  HTnn  c'^x,^'" 
Now,  seeing  that  the  Mishna  knows  of  no  other  designation 
for  the  whole  space  around  the  temple — even  in  cases  where 
it  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  inner  court — but  the 
expression  iTjin  nn/'^  we  are  accordingly  to  understand  by  the 
n-nn  in  \i^a,  a  captain  who  had  charge  of  the  outer  court,  and 
by  the  m"'3n  im,  on  the  other  hand,  the  one  who  had  the 
surveillance  of  the  temple  itself.  For  the  HTji  cannot  possil)ly 
have  been  intended  to  refer  to  Fort  Antonia,  seeing  that  this 
latter  was  under  the  charge  of  a  Eoman  (}}povpap^o^^'~  but  only 
to  the  temple  itself.^'^  The  two  kinds  of  officials  now  men- 
tioned would  therefore  be  identical  with  the  D"'::d  or  a-rpaTTjyoc 
to  whom  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  refer. 

It  was  also  part  of  the  watchmen's  duty  to  open  and  close 
the  whole  of  the  gates  of  the  courts,  all  of  which  were  shut 
during  the  night ;  and  accordingly  there  was  also  an  officer 
appointed  whose  special  duty  it  was  to  superintend  "  the 
shutting  of  the  gates."  ^^*  According  to  Josephus,  the  services 
of  two  hundred  men  were  required  every  time  the  gates 
were  shut,"^  and  the  heavy  brazen  gate  in  the  east  of  the 
court  took  twenty  men  itself.^'®  Then  as  for  the  gate  of  the 
temple,  we  are  told  that  when  it  was  opened,  so  loud  was  tlie 
creaking,  that  it  could  be  heard  as  far  away  as  Jericho.^"  The 
keys  of  the  gates  of  the  court  were  kept  by  the  elders  of  the 
particular  division  of  priests  whose  turn  it  was  to  be  on  watcli 
duty   v/ithin    the    court    for  the   time    being.''^     When    the 

"9  Middoth  i,  2.  i'"  Orhi  ii.  12. 

^^^  For  example,  Bikkurim  iii.  4  ;  Pcsachim  v.  5-lU  ;  Sluhdiin  vii.  2-o. 
Sanhcdrin  xi.  2. 

''-  Joseph.  Aiitt.  XV.  11.  4,  xviii.  4.  3. 

^'^  Su  also  1  Chrou.  xxix.  1,  19.  Pcsachim  iii.  8,  \ni.  8  ;  ScbacJiim  xii.  5 ; 
Tamidi.  1  ;  Midduth  i.  9  ;  J'ara  iii.  1. 

^•*  ShckaUm  v.  1.  ''•'■  CotUra  Ajiioji.  ii.  9. 

1'«  Jkll.  Jud.  vi.  5.  3.  1' '    Tiuuid  iii.  8. 

»^8  Middoth  i.  8-9  ;   Taiuld  i.  1. 


268        §  2L    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

divisions  were  clianged,  the  one  that  retired  handed  them  over 
to  the  one  that  came  in  to  take  its  place/'^^  The  morning 
sacrifice,  as  we  know,  required  to  be  offered  at  daybreak,  and 
that  being  the  case  the  gates  would  of  course  have  to  be  open 
some  little  time  before ;  while  at  the  Passover  season  they 
were  open  even  so  early  as  midnight.^'^° 

III.  It  is  true  the  acts  of  ivorship  'pro'pzrly  so  called,  i.e.  the 
offering  of  the  sacrifices  with  all  the  accompanying  ceremonial, 
devolved  as  a  whole  upon  the  entire  priesthood,  who  were 
divided  into  twenty-four  courses,  each  of  which  conducted  the 
worship  by  turns,  and  that  for  a  week  at  a  time  (on  this  see 
next  paragraph).  Yet  even  here  special  stated  officials  were  also 
necessary  for  certain  particular  functions.  We  get  some  idea 
of  the  multifarious  nature  of  those  functions  from  a  passage  in 
the  Mishna  in  which  are  enumerated,  though  in  a  very  con- 
fused and  unsystematic  order,  the  names  of  those  persons  who 
at  a  particular  period  (evidently  in  the  closing  years  of  the 
temple's  existence)  happened  to  fill  the  most  important 
offices  in  connection  with  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary.'^^ 
Trom  that  passage  it  will  be  seen  that  there  was,  for  example, 

^'^  Contra  Ap'wn.  ii.  8. 

180  Antt.  xviii.  2.  2.  Also,  in  the  time  of  Pentecost,  the  priests  who 
were  to  officiate  entered  the  court  as  early  as  during  the  night.  Bell.  Jud. 
vi.  5.  8.     Comp,  further,  Joma  i.  8. 

181  Shcl-alim  v.  1  :  "  The  following  are  the  officials  who  held  appoint- 
ments in  the  sanctuary  :  (1)  Jochaiian  the  son  of  Piiichas  had  charge  of  the 
seals ;  (2)  Achiah  of  the  drink-offerings  ;  (3)  Matthiah  the  son  of  Samuel 
of  the  lots ;  (4)  I'etachiah  of  the  money  for  the  purchase  of  birds  for  sacri- 
fice ;  (5)  Ben  Achiah  of  the  healing  of  the  priests  suffering  from  abdominal 
disorders;  (G)  Nechoniah  was  master  of  the  wells ;  (7)  Gebini  a  herald; 
(8)  Ben  Gabar  a  chief  door-shutter ;  (9)  Ben  Bebai  had  charge  of  tlie 
scourging  (?  ]}^pQ,  the  meaning  of  whicii  is  uncertain)  ;  (10)  Ben  Arsa  kept 
the  warning  cymbal;  (11)  Hygros,  son  of  Levi,  was  conductor  of  the 
psalmody;  (12)  the  family  of  Garmu  had  the  charge  of  the  prej'aring  of 
the  shewbread  ;  (13)  the  family  of  Abtinas  that  of  the  preparation  of  the 
frankincense  ;  (1-4)  Eleasar  had  the  renewing  (or  the  custody  ?)  of  the 
veils;  (15)  Pinchas  that  of  the  garments."  As  elucidating  the  whole 
passage,  comp,  the  Rabbinical  commentaries  in  Surenliusius'  Mishna,  ii. 
p.  192  ;  and  especially,  Herzfeld's  Gesch.  des  Volkes  J  Israel.,  i.  p.  405  ff.  ;  also 
Jost,  Gesch.  des  Judenthums,  i.  p.  151  f. 


§  24.    Tili:  PKIESTIIOOD  AND  TUE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         2G9 

a  special  oflicial  "  over  the  lots  "  (No.  3),  on  whom  devolved 
the  duty  of  superintending  the  daily  casting  of  the  lots  for 
determining  the  particular  parts  of  the  service  that  were  to 
be  apportioned  to  the  various  officiating  priests/^  Then  there 
M-as  another  functionary  who  was  "  over  the  seals "  (No.  1), 
and  another  again  "  over  the  drink-offerings  "  (No.  2).  For, 
with  a  view  to  simplifjdng  matters,  an  arrangement  had  been 
adopted  according  to  which  "  seals "  or  tokens  were  issued 
corresponding  to  the  various  kinds  of  drink-offerings,  on 
presenting  which  people  could  get  the  particular  drink-offering 
indicated  upon  them.  The  mode  of  proceeding  was  first  of 
all  to  purchase  a  token  from  the  official  who  was  "over  the 
seals,"  then  to  hand  this  to  the  one  who  was  "  over  the  drink- 
offerings,"  who  in  return  would  give  to  the  person  tendering 
it  the  amount  of  drink-offering  requisite  for  the  particular 
occasion  for  which  it  was  wanted.^^^  There  was  a  similar 
arrangement  for  the  convenience  of  those  who  wished  to  be 
promptly  supplied  with  birds  for  sacrificial  purposes.  All 
that  was  necessary  was  to  drop  the  money  into  a  box,  where- 
upon it  became  the  duty  of  the  official  who  was  "over  the 
winged  sacrifices  "  (No.  4)  duly  to  purchase  with  it,  as  speedily 
as  possible,  the  requisite  oflerings.'**  ]\Iany  of  the  offerings 
were  of  such  a  nature  that  they  required  a  certain  amount  of 
skill  to  prepare  them  properly,  a  skill  which  belonged  by 
inheritance  to  particular  families.  Accordingly  the  family  of 
Garmii  (No.  12)  had  charge  of  the  preparing  of  the  shew- 
bread,  that  of  Abtinas  (No.  13)  had  the  preparing  of  the 
frankincense.^^     Then  again  the  chief  chai-ge  of  the  psalmody 

^82  On  the  casting  of  the  lots  here  in  question,  see  Joma  ii.  2-4  ;  Tuitikl 
i.  2,  iii.  1,  V.  2.  The  Matthiah,  a  son  of  Samuel,  who  is  mentioned  as  having 
had  charge  of  the  lots,  is  also  mentioned  in  Joma  iii.  1,  Tumid  iii.  2,  where 
lie  is  introduced  as  vouching  for  the  existence  of  certain  practices  in  the 
temple. 

^''^  ShckuUm  v.  3-5. 

'''*  The  money  was  dropped  into  one  of  the  thirteen  trumpet-shaped 
boxes  that  stood  in  the  temple  ;  see  note  142,  above. 

^^^  In. /«/»a  iii.  11,  both  families  are  censured  for  having  allowed  strangers 
to  meddle  with  their  art.     There  was  a  chamber  in  the  iuuer  court  that  was 


270        §  24.    THE  PPJESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP. 

was  entrusted  to  an  official  specially  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose (No.  11).'-^  There  was  another  whose  duty  it  was  to 
sound  a  cymbal  (^v^v)  by  way  of  letting  the  Levites  know 
when  to  commence  the  music  (No.  10).^^  There  were  besides 
a  temple  physician  (No.  5),  a  master  of  the  wells  (No.  6),  a 
herald  (No.  7),  whose  voice  was  so  powerful  that  it  could  be 
heard  as  far  away  as  Jericho.^^^  Tlien  further,  as  the  veils  in 
the  temple  required  to  be  frequently  renewed/*^  there  was  an 
official  appointed  to  see  to  the'  making  of  them,  and  to  take 
charge  of  the  store  in  which  they  were  kept  (No.  14).  And 
lastly,  there  was  an  official  whose  special  duty  it  was  to  take 
charge  of  the  priests'  garments  (No.  15).^^" 

A  very  numerous  class  of  functionaries  connected  with 
the  worship  of  the  sanctuary  was  that  of  the  sacred  musicians, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  accompany  the  offering  of  the  "  daily 
burnt-offering  "  and  the  other  solemn  services  with  sincrin^  and 
playing  upon  stringed  instruments/'^^  and  who  were  called  in 
Hebrew  D''"!'!b'0  (frequently  so  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah),  and 
in   Greek,  -^aXroi^ol,   lepoy^aXrai,  vfivaBol,  Kidapiarat  re  koX 

named  D3''Ü3X  T\'^2  after  the  family  of  Abtinas  (Jomn  i.  5  ;  Tamid  i.  1 ; 
Middoth  i.  1).     In  addition,  comp,  in  general,  1  Chron.  ix.  30-32,  xxiii.  29. 

^^^  On  this  official,  comp,  further,  Joma  iii.  11. 

^^''  Com}).  Tamid  vii.  3.  ^^^   Tamid  iii.  8.  ^^^  Shelcalim  viii.  5. 

190  Yov  the  priests'  official  garments  were  kept  in  the  court  (Ezek.  xlii.  14). 
Themaster  of  the  wardrobe,  Pinchas,  is  likewise  mentioned  in  Middoth  i.  4  ; 
Joseph.  Bell.  Jitd.  vi.  8.  3.  Whether  his  duty  was  simply  to  take  charge  of 
the  garments,  or  whether  he  had  also,  wlien  necessary,  to  provide  new  ones, 
is  not  quite  clear. 

^9^^  On  these  officials  and  the  temple  music  generally,  compare,  in  addition 
to  the  literature  quoted  in  notes  43  and  136,  Gesenius,  Thesaurus,  pp.  698, 
844,  1167.  Winer's  Rcahcörterh.,  art.  "  Musik  "  and  "  Musikalische  Instru- 
mente." Leyrer's  art.  "  Musik  bei  den  Hebräern,"  in  Herzog's  Rtal-Encijd. 
(1st  ed.  vol.  X.  pp.  123-135 ;  2nd  ed.  vol.  x.  pp.  887-398).  Wetzstein 
in  Delitzsch's  Commentar  zu  Jcsaja,  2nd  ed.  pp.  702-704.  Eiehm's  Haml- 
wörteri.  des  hihi.  Altertums,  pp.  1028-1045  (with  numerous  illustrations). 
Grätz,  Die  Tempelpsalmen  {2Ionatsschr.  1878,  pp.  217-222).  Idem,  Die 
inxyikalischen  Instrumente  im  Jerusalemischen  Tempel  und  der  musikalische 
Chor  der  Leviten  (Monatsschr.  1881,  pp.  241-259).  Lagarde,  Erlclürnmi 
hehräischer  Wörter  {Ahhandlungen  der  Göttinger  Oescllsch.  der  Wissensch.  vol. 
xxvi.  1880),  pp.  13-27.  Stainer,  The  Music  of  the  Bible,  London  (without 
a  date,  1879  ?)  ;  with  100  illustrations. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         271 

vfjbvwSol}^'"  Tliey  formed  a  separate  and  exclusive  order,  to 
wbicli  none  were  admitted  but  those  descended  from  a  par- 
ticular family,  and  down  even  to  the  time  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiuh  they  were  distinguished  from  the  Levites,  although 
at  a  subsequent  period  they  were  included  amongst  them 
(see  above,  p.  225  f).^"^  I'hey  were  divided  into  three 
families,  those  of  Hcman,  Asaph  and  Ethan  or  Jedv.thuii 
(1  Chron.  vi.  16-32,  xv.  16-19,  xxv.  the  entire  chapter; 
2  Chron.  v.  12),^***  and  the  whole  were  sub-divided  again  into 
twenty-four  courses  of  service  (1  Chron.  xxv.).  The  principal 
part  of  their  duty  was  to  sing,  playing  on  an  instrument 
being  regarded  merely  in  the  light  of  an  accompaniment  to 
the  singing.  The  musical  instruments  made  use  of  for  this 
purpose  were  chiefly  the  three  following  :^^"' — (1)  The  hjnibal 
(DWy»,  KVfißdka),  an  instrument  played  by  striking  tlie  one 
plate  upon  the  other,  and  resembling  the  warning  cymbal 
(^^6v),  with  which  the  signal  was  given  for  commencing  the 
singing.^^**     As  the  dual  form  already  serves  to  indicate,  this 

192  ■^x'Atuooi  or,  according  to  another  reading,  ^//aX.ttwSo/,  Sir.  xlvii.  9, 
1.  18.  Upo-spM^Toii,  Joseph.  Antt.  xii.  3.  3,  Jin.  ;  Cfivuloi,  Antt.  xx,  9.  6  ; 
Kidccpiarcci  n  x.»l  Cf/^vojooi,  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  1.5.  4.  From  this  latter  passage  we 
must  beware  of  inferring  that  tlie  players  on  the  instruments  and  the 
singers  represent  separate  categories.  For  the  truth  is,  both  alike 
come  fAsrec,  ruv  opyocyuv.  "Those  who  play  on  the  stringed  instrument 
and  sing,"  are  consequently  the  same  persons.  Comp.  1  Chron.  xv.  16, 
"V^  'h'2'2  D''"n:j'Cn,  also  1  Chron.  xxiii.  5. 

^^^  In  the  Mishna  too,  the  musicians  are  uniformly  described  as  "  Levites  " 
(D^v),  Bihkurbn  iii.  4 ;  Siikka  v.  4  ;  Rosh  hashoua  iv.  4  ;  Arachin  ii.  6  ; 
7\imiJ  vii.  3-4. 

13*  On  the  ingenious  way  in  which  those  families  of  the  musicians  are 
traced  back  to  Levi,  see  daf  in  Merx'  Archii-,  i.  p.  231  f.  Only  one  of 
those  families  is  mentioned  among  the  exiles  that  returned  with  Zeriib- 
babel,  viz.  that  of  Asapli,  Ezra  ii.  41  ;  Neh.  vii.  44. 

195  See  Neh.  xii.  27  ;  1  Chron.  xiii.  8,  xv.  lG-22,  xv.  28,  xvi.  5 ; 
2  Chron.  v.  12,  xxix.  25 ;  1  Mace.  iv.  04,  xiii.  51.  Joseph.  Antt.  vii.  12.  3. 
Siikka  v.  4  ;  Arachin  ii.  3-6  ;  Miüdoth  ii.  6. 

19"  Comp.  p.  221,  above.  In  the  leading  passage  on  the  nuisicul  instru- 
ments, viz.  Arachin  ii.  3-6,  Q^ni'V'D  nrc  not  mentioned  at  all,  but  merely 
the  yiyi.  Consequently  one  is  tempted  to  assume  that  botli  are  identically 
the  same.  But  still  the  different  terms  undoubtedly  denote  different 
instruments. 


272         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AXD  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHTP. 

instrument  consisted  of  t^^■o  large  shallow  plates  made  of 
brass/"'  which,  when  struck  the  one  upon  the  other,  emitted 
a  loud  sound.  Of  a  somewhat  more  musical  and  harmonious 
character  were  (2)  the  'P^p,  vdßka,  Luther :  "  psalter,"  and  (3) 
the  "1133,  Kivvpa,  Luther  :  "  Harfe."  Both  were  stringed  instru- 
ments, the  vdßXa,  according  to  Josephus,  having  twelve  and 
the  Kivvpa  ten  strings.^^^  The  vdßXa  was  played  with  the 
hand,  whereas,  according  to  the  same  authority  just  referred 
to,  the  KLvvpa  was  played  with  the  plectrum  (in  the  earlier 
Biblical  times  the  "ii33  was  also  played  with  the  hand).^^^  A 
good  deal  has  no  doubt  been  written  in  which  the  nature  of 
those  instruments  is  fully  discussed,  but  still  no  certain  result 
has  been  arrived  at.  According  to  the  Mishna,  the  number 
of  D733  emjjloyed  in  the  temple  choir  w^as  never  fewer  than 
tv:o  and  never  more  than  six,  whereas  with  regard  to  the 
nhi23,  there  required  to  be  nine  of  them  at  the  very  least,  and 
their  number  might  be  multiplied  ad  libitum^^^  Erom  all 
this  one  might  venture  to  infer  that  the  "ii33  was  the  chief, 
the  leading  instrument,  while  the  ^33  was  rather  intended  to 
serve  as  an  accompaniment  to  it.  Besides  the  three  instru- 
ments just  referred  to,  reed  pipes,  ^yyü.,  were  also  introduced 
into  the  choir  on  the  occasion  of  the  high  festivals  that 
occurred  in  the  course  of  the  year  (Passover,  Pentecost  and 
the  feast  of  Tabernacles).-*^^ 

But  in  addition  to  this,  trumpets  (nn>'ii'n)  were  in  regular 
use,  and  while  the  playing  upon  the  instruments  hitherto 
mentioned  was  left  entirely  to  the  Levites  (the  traditions 
hesitating  somewhat  only  with  regard  to  the  reed-]3ipes),  the 
blowing  with  trumpets,  on  the  other  hand,  was  performed  by 
priests.  This  latter  was  also  an  accompaniment  above  all  of 
the  offering  of  the  daily  burnt-offering,  and  of  other  parts  of 

^'^'^  1  Chron.  XV.  19.     Joseph.  Antt.  vii.  12.  3. 

I9S  Antt.  vii.  12.  3.  ^^^  1  Sam.  xvi.  23,  xviii.  10,  xix.  9. 

^ö"  Arachin  ii.  0.  5. 

^^^  On  the  TTse  of  those  last-mentioned  instruments,  see  in  particular, 
Arachin  ii.  3-4. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AXD  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         273 

the  service  as  well.""^  Tlie  dawn  of  tlie  Sabbath  was  likewise 
announced  by  some  of  the  priests  blowing  trumpets  from  the 
roof  of  the  temple.'"^ 

The  services  of  a  more  menicd  hind  were  performed,  in  the 
time  of  Zerubbabel,  Ezra  and  Xehemiah,  by  temple  slaves 
(D^yn:).^''*  It  is  true  that  D'J'n^  still  continue  to  be  mentioned 
in  the  literature  of  a  later  period/"^  but  it  is  no  longer  possible 
to  make  out  with  certainty  what  the  nature  of  their  duties 
now  was.  Instead  of  them  we  now  meet  with  what  are 
called  "  servants  "  (P'i^jT) ;  '^^  nay  we  find  that,  in  Philo,  the 
cleaning  and  sweeping  of  the  temple  are  mentioned  along 
with  the  duty  of  watching  as  being  all  of  them  performed 
by  the  vecoKopoi,  i.e.  the  Levites.^"'^  There  were  also  a  good 
many  functions  that  were  left  to  be  performed  by  boys 
belonging  to  the  families  of  the  priests  (i^^na  '•nna).^"'^ 


IV.    THE  DAILY  SERVICE. 

The  daily  worship  of  the  sanctuary  was  conducted  by  the 
twenty-four  divisions  of  the  priests  (see  p.  2 1 6  ff.  above),  each 
division  taking  its  turn  and  officiating  for  a  week  at  a  time. 
The  divisions  were  changed  every  Sabbath  day,  the  arrange- 

-°-  See  in  general,  Num.  x.  1-10 ;  Ezra  iii.  10  ;  Noh.  xii.  35 ;  1  Chron. 
XV.  24,  xvi.  6 ;  2  Chron.  v.  12,  vii.  6,  xxix.  26-28 ;  Sir.  L  16.  Joseph. 
Antt.  iii.  12.  6.  Sukka  v.  4-5;  Rosh  liashana  iii.  3-4;  Tamid  vii.  3. 
Lundius,  Die  alt.  jüd.  IlclUfjth.  book  iii.  chap,  xlvii. 

203  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  9.  12.     Sukka  v.  5. 

20*  Ezra  ii.  43,  58,  70,  vii.  7,  via.  17,  20 ;  Neh.  iii.  26,  31,  vii.  46, 60,  73, 
X.  29,  xi.  3,  21 ;  1  Chron.  ix.  2.  Comp.  Pfeffinger,  De  Nethinacis  (in  Ugo- 
lini's  r/ifs.  vol.  xiii.).  Wm^r'a  Realwörterh.,  avt.  "Nethinim."  Oehler,  art. 
"Nethinim,"  in  Herzog's  Rcal-Eiicijcl,  1st  ed.  vol.  x.  296  f. 

205  For  example,  Jelamoth  ii.  4  ;  Kiddushin  iv.  1  ;  Mokkolh  iii.  1 ;  Horajoth 
m.  8. 

206  Sukka  iv.  4  ;   Tamid  v.  3.     Comp,  further.  Sola  vii.  7-8  ;  Joma  vii.  1. 

207  Philo,  De  praemiis  saccrdotuvi,  sec.  vi.  (ed.  Mangey,  ii.  p.  236):  "Ertpot 
OS  rcc;  arocc;  y,xl  tx  iv  ü—xiäpu  Kopouvn;  rov  (popvTci/  iKy.oui^ouaiu,  STrifu'/.öfni/oi 
KudxporriTo;. 

208  Joma  i.  7 ;  Sukka  v.  2 ;  Saulicdrin  ix.  6  ;  Tumid  i.  1 ;  Middotli 
i.  8,  iü.  8. 

DIV.  n.  VOL.  I.  S 


274         §  24.   THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

nieut  being  that  the  retiring  one  should  offer  the  morning 
sacrifice  and  the  extra  Sabbath  offerings  (according  to  Num. 
xxviii.  9,  10)  before  leaving,  while  the  one  that  came  in  to 
take  its  place  was  to  offer  the  evening  sacrifice  and  put  the 
fresh  shewbread  upon  the  table."""  On  tlie  occasion  of  the 
three  leading  festivals  of  the  year  (Passover,  Pentecost,  and 
the  feast  of  Tabernacles)  the  whole  twenty-four  courses 
officiated  simultaneously."^"  The  attempts  made  by  Christian 
scholars  to  make  out  on  chronological  grounds  the  week 
during  which  the  course  of  Abia  happened  to  serve  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord's  birth  (Luke  i.  5)  have  no  tenable  historical 
basis  on  which  to  rest.^^^  Every  weekly  division  again  was 
broken  up  into  somewhere  between  five  and  nine  sub-divisions, 
each  of  which  officiated  on  an  average  for  a  single  day  the 
one  after  the  other.  If  the  sub-divisions  happened  to  be 
fewer  than  seven,  then  some  of  them  required  to  take  their 
turn  twice ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  there  happened  to  be 
more  than   seven,  then  on  some   of  the  days  two    of   them 

20^  See,  in  particular,  Tosefta,  Sukka  iv.  24-25  (ed.  Zuckermandel,  p. 
200)  ;  also  Mishna,  Sukka  v.  7-8 ;  Tamid  v.  1.  2  Chron.  xxiii.  4,  8  (where 
the  priestly  courses  of  services  are  evidently  in  question ;  it  is  otherwise  in  the 
corresponding  passage  2  Kings  xi.  5,  9).  Joseph.  Anti.  vii.  14.  7 :  oiirec^s 
TS  (/.iav  "TTurptoiv  Otxx.ouiiadoii  rifi  ds^  Ixi  '^f/Ap»g  oktco,  oi%6  aotßßoirov  iTrl 
ca,ßß(x.Tou.  It  is  probable  that  we  ought  also  to  understand  as  referring 
to  the  changing  of  the  weekly  (and  not  the  daily)  divisions,  the  passage 
contra  Apion.  ii.  8 :  alii  succedentes  ad  sacrificia  veniuut,  et  congregati  in 
templum  mediante  die  a  praecedentibus  claves  templi  et  ad  numerum  vasa 
omnia  percipiunt. 

210  See  Sukka  v.  6-8,  and  Bartenora  on  Sukka  v.  6,  in  Surenhusius' 
edition  of  the  Mishna,  ii.  p.  279. 

211  See  for  such  attempts,  Scaliger,  De  emendatione  temporum  (Coloniae 
AUobrog.  1629),  Appendix,  pp.  54-59.  lA^tioot,  Harmonia  evangelistarum, 
note  on  Luke  i.  5  (Opp.  i.  pp.  258-264).  Bengel,  Ordo  temporum  (1741), 
pp.  230-232.  Wieseler,  Chronologische  Synapse,  pp.  140-145.  Seyffarth, 
Chronologia  sacra  (1846),  pp.  97-103.  Stawars,  Die  Ordnung  Abia  in 
Beziehung  auf  die  Bestimmung  des  wahren  Geburtsdatums  Jesu  (Tub.  Theol. 
Quartalschr.  1866,  pp.  201-225).  The  calculations  here  in  question  are 
based  partly  upon  purely  gratuitous  assumptions  and  partly  upon  a  very 
late  and  somewhat  untrustworthy  notice  in  the  Talmud,  to  the  effect  that 
the  course  of  Joiarib  was  the  one  that  happened  to  be  officiating  on  the 
day  ou  which  the  temple  was  destroyed  (Dab.  Taanith  29"). 


§  -24.    THE  PrJESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        275 

officiated  at  the  same  time  (see  p.  216,  above).  But  furtlier, 
as  never  more  than  a  fraction  of  tlie  priests  belonging  to  a 
sub-division  were  required  to  ofüciate  at  the  regular  daily 
offering  of  tlie  public  sacrifices,  it  was  necessary  to  determine 
by  lot  those  on  whom  the  active  duties  of  the  day  were  to 
devolve.  Like  the  priests,  the  Levites  were  also  divided  into 
twenty-four  courses  of  service  (see  p.  227  f.,  above),  which  in 
like  manner  relieved  each  other  every  week.^^'  But  lastly,  in 
addition  to  this  there  was  an  analogous  division  oj  the  people 
themselves  into  twenty-four  courses  of  service  (DiiDüTp),  each  of 
which  had  to  take  its  turn  in  coming  before  God,  every  day 
for  a  whole  week,  by  way  of  representing  the  whole  body  of 
the  people  while  the  daily  sacrifice  was  being  offered  to 
Jehovah.^^^  The  division  actually  engaged  in  the  perform- 
ance of  this  duty  was  known  under  the  designation  of  ""pyo, 
"a  station."  At  the  same  time  the  case  of  the  ordinary 
Israelites  differed  from  that  of  the  priests  and  Levites  in 
this  respect,  that  unlike  these,  the  entire  division  did  not 
require  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  when  its  turn  came.  Instead 
of  this  the  persons  belonging  to  it  met  together  in  the 
synagogues  in  the  towns  in  or  near  which  they  resided 
and  there  engaged  in  prayer  and  the  reading  of  Scripture; 
probably  in  every  instance  it  was  merely  a  deputation  of 
them  that  actually  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  be  present  at  the 
offering  of  the  sacrifice.  In  that  case  it  was  this  deputation 
that,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  constituted  the  ""^I^o, 
which  "  stood  by  "  while  the  sacrifice  was  being  offered."* 

212  1  Chron.  ix.  25;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  4,  8.  Joseph.  And.  vii.  U.  7. 
Taanith  iv.  2. 

213  On  the  whole  arrangement,  comp.  Buxtorfs  Lex.  Chahl.  col.  1622  f. 
(see  under  loy).  Lightfoot,  Ministerium  temjili,  cap.  vii.  3  (Opp.  i.  p. 
700  f.).  Carpzov,  Apparatus  historico-crilicns,  p.  109  f.  Hottingcr,  De 
viris  statioiiariis,  Marburg  1707  (a  mo.st  exhaustive  treatment  of  the 
matter).  Hcrzfckl,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Jisrael,  vol.  iii.  pp.  188-200,  20-1-209. 
Oeliler  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl,  1st  ed.  vol.  xii.  187  (2nd  ed.  vol.  xii.  227). 
Hamburger,  Real- Encycl.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  vol.  ii.  pp.  877-880  (art 
"  Opferbeistände"). 

21*  See  especially,  Taanith  iv.  1— i.     The  principal  passage,  Taanith  iv.  2, 


276         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  "WORSHIP. 

The  officiating  priests  wore,  during  the  service,  a  special 
official  dress,  which  consisted  of  the  four  following  articles : — 
(1)  D''p:3ö,  i.e.  short  breeches  covering  merely  the  hips  and 
thighs,  and  made  of  byssus  (probably  not  cotton,  but  fine 
white  linen).  Then  over  these  (2)  the  rii^na,  a  long,  somewhat 
close-fitting  coat,  reaching  down  to  the  feet,  with  narrow 
sleeves,  and  also  made  of  byssus.  This  coat  was  fastened 
together  somewhere  about  the  breast  with  (3)  a  girdle  (^3.^?^?), 
which  mostly  consisted  of  byssus  also,  only  it  had  ornaments 
of  purple,  scarlet  and  blue  embroidered  upon  it.  It  was 
therefore  the  only  part  of  the  attire  that  had  any  colour  about 
it,  all  the  rest  being  pure  white.  Then  the  covering  for  the 
head  was  (4)  the  ■"'V^-'P,  ^  kind  of  cap   or   turban.^^^     Shoes 

runs  thus:  "The  early  prophets  institated  twenty-four  courses  of  service 
(ni"iDt^*D)-  There  was  a  station  (noya)  in  Jerusalem,  consittiug  of  priests, 
Levites  and  Israelites,  to  represent  each  course.  When  the  time  for  service 
came  round  the  priests  and  Levites  of  the  course  went  up  to  Jerusalem, 
■while  the  Israelites  belonging  to  that  course  met  in  the  synagogues  of  their 
towns  and  read  the  account  of  the  creation."  The  terms  of  the  passage 
are  contradictory  iu  so  far  as  they  seem  to  allege  that  the  whole  '^'0V^  was 
in  Jerusalem,  while  telling  us,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  Israelites  merely 
assembled  in  the  synagogues  of  their  towns.  It  is  probable  that  the 
correct  view  of  the  matter  is  given  in  the  corresponding  passage  in  the 
Tosefta  (ed.  Zuckermandel,  p.  219),  where  to  "the  Israelites  belonging  to  that 
course"  are  added  the  words  "who  were  unable  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem." 
What  is  meant  therefore  is  this,  that  the  wliole  of  the  priests  and  Levites 
belonging  to  the  same  course,  and  who  were  capable  of  service,  were  hound  to 
go  up  ;  while  the  Israelites,  on  the  other  hand,  might  stay  at  home  if  it  did 
not  happen  to  be  convenient  for  them  to  go,  though  at  the  same  time  it  is 
presupposed  that  some  of  them  were  expected  to  be  actually  present  in 
Jerusalem.  Accordingly,  in  Tamid  v.  6  it  is  assumed  without  more  ado 
that  the  "head  of  the  station"  (^'OV^T\  C^Sl)  wjis  regularly  present  in  the 
capital.  A  similar  view  of  the  matter  is  taken  by  Herzfeld,  for  example, 
iii.  p.  193,  and  Hamburger,  ü.  p.  878.  Bikkurim  'in.  2  proceeds  on  the 
assumption  that  there  were  station-districts  or  circles  marked  off  by  definite 
boundaries  and  having  some  leading  town  as  the  centre  of  each.  Comp, 
besides,  Taanilli  ii.  7. 

215  For  the  priests'  attire,  see  Ezek.  xliv.  17-19  ;  Ex.  xxviii.  40-4,3, 
xxxix.  27-29,  and  above  all  the  minute  description  of  it  in  Joseph.  Antt. 
iii.  7. 1-3.  Philo's  brief  notice  in  Vita  Mosis,  iii.  13  (Mang.  ii.  157)  :  pc/Tav«; 
"Kiuov;,  ^iiuotg  Ti  Kdl  ■^spiax.iT^vi ;  De  monarchia,  ii.  5  (Mang.  ii.  225)  :  ij  oe 
iadvig  idTi  x''^^''-'  ^^ivovg  kocI  Trepi^u/aa.  Joseph.  Antt.  xx.  9.  6:  7\iv7i»  aro'Ä-Jiv. 
Aristeas,  ed.  M.  Schnaidt  in  Merx'  Archiv,  i.  270.  1-2:  tZ'j  ispiuv  Ksnothvu- 


§  24.    THE  PIIIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP.        277 

are  nowhere  mentioned,  and  it  may  be  regarded  as  certain  that 
the  priests  always  officiated  without  having  anything  on  the 
feet.-^'^ 

As    the    white    attire    was    a    symbol   of    purity,    so    the 

(Aiuu'j  yAxpi  T^c^'J  efupui'j  ßvaui'joi;  ^^irajtv.  The  literature  of  our  subject  is 
the  same  as  that  ah-eady  referred  to  in  connection  M'ith  the  high  priest's 
dress ;  see  note  124,  above.  On  the  question  as  to  whether  byssus  is  to  be 
identified  with  cotton  or  with  linen,  see  among  others,  Wmer  a  Realwörterb., 
art.  "Baumwolle;"  Dillmann's  note  on  Ex.  xxv.  4;  Haneberg,  Die 
religiösen  AUerthümcr,  pp.  536-538  (who  is  of  opinion  that  Rosellini  has 
decided  the  question,  and  that  in  favour  of  cotton) ;  and,  on  the  other  side, 
Marquardt,  Das  Privatleben  der  Römer,  vol.  ii.  (1S82)  p.  464  f.,  and  the 
leading  work  on  the  subject  quoted  there,  viz.  Yatts'  Textrinum  antiqaorum. 
An  Account  of  the  Art  of  Weaving  among  the  Ancients,  part  i.  London 
1843  ;  also  Hehn,  Cultnrpßanzen  und  Hausthiere,  3rd  ed.  p.  145.  As  the 
ancients  did  not  always  carefully  distinguish  between  linen  and  cotton,  it 
is  quite  possible  that  tliere  were  some  instances  in  which  cotton  was  also 
made  use  of  for  making  the  priests'  attire  (as  witness,  for  example,  the 
fine  Indian  fabric  from  which  the  garments  were  made  which  the  high 
priest  was  in  the  habit  of  wearing  on  the  afternoon  of  the  great  day  of 
atonement,  and  which  consisted  of  that  material).  On  the  other  hand,  it 
may  be  taken  as  certain  that,  as  a  rule,  it  was  linen  tliat  was  used. 
According  to  Mishna,  Kilajim  ix.  1,  only  flax  (DTlt^'S)  and  slieup's  wool 
("IDV)  were  employed  for  the  purpose  in  question,  the  latter  being  for  the 
parti -coloured  ornamentation  on  the  girdle ;  see  the  commentaries  in 
Surenhusius'  Mishna,  vol.  i.  p.  149,  and  Braun's  Vestitns  sacerdolum 
Hehraeorum,  i.  6.  2,  ii.  3.  4.  It  is  with  reference  to  this  matter  that  it  is 
said  in  Josephus,  Antt.  iv.  8.  11 :  f^in^ui  V  tl  vf^uv  K'Kuariiv  l|  iplov  x.xl  T^iuov 
ffToXs^j/  (popshw  T0<;  yap  itpivai  /icövot; ruvr-^v  ec^oOi^ii-^Sxt.  Consequently 
the  priests'  attire  was  expressly  exempted  from  the  prohibition  of  Lev. 
xix.  19  ;  Deut.  xxii.  11. 

21C  See  Bartenora  on  Shekalim  v,  1  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  ii.  192). 
Braun's  Vestitus  sacerd.  Heb.  i.  3.  3  (pp.  4.)-47).  Carpzov,  Discalceatio 
religiosa  in  loco  sacro  ad  Ex.  iii.  5  (in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xxix.). 
Ugulini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xiii.  405  ff.  Winer's  Reahcörterh.ü.  271.  Leyrer 
in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  1st  ed.  vol.  vii.  p.  718.  The  following  passage 
occurs  in  Megilla  iv.  ö  with  reference  to  the  worship  of  the  synagogue  : 
"  He  who  says,  I  will  not  lead  the  prayers  in  coloured  clothes,  as  little  is 
be  to  do  so  in  white  attire.  He  who  is  unwilling  to  do  so  with  sandals  on,  as 
little  is  he  to  do  it  barefooted."  The  meaning  of  which  is  simply  this,  that 
in  the  service  of  the  synagogue  no  one  is  to  presume  to  wear  the  dress  of  a 
priest.  With  regard  to  the  priests'  benediction,  on  tiie  other  hand,  Jochanan 
ben  Sakkai  is  said  to  have  ordained,  that  even  after  the  destruction  of  the 
temple  it  was  still  to  be  pronounced  by  them  only  with  the  feet  bare 
(/lo.s/i  hashana  31^ ;  Sota  490.  Dereubourg,  llistoire  de  la  Palestine,  p.  3U5, 
note  3). 


278  §24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

officiating  priests  required  to  be  men  characterized  by 
Umfcrance  and  Lcvitical  'purity.  During  the  period  of  their 
service  they  were  prohibited  from  drinking  wine  or  any 
other  intoxicating  beverage.^^'^  ISTor  were  they  allowed  to 
enter  the  conrt  for  the  purpose  of  officiating  unless  they 
were  Levitically  clean.  Nay  more,  even  those  who  were  so 
were,  in  every  instance,  required  to  take  a  formal  bath 
previous  to  their  entering  upon  the  services  of  the  day." 
But  besides  this,  they  had  tlien  to  go  and  vxisli  the  liandi 
and  feet  in  the  brazen  laver  (li'?)  that  stood  in  the  open 
air  between  the  temple  and  the  altar  of  burnt- offering. 

As   regards   the   sacrifices   that   were  offered   every  day,^^" 
they  are  to  be  distinguished  into  two  classes,  the  j^uhlic  and 

-1'  Lev.  X.  8-11  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  21.  Pseudo-Hecataeus  in  Josephuf:, 
contra  Apion.  i.  22  (ed.  Bekker,  p.  204,  26  ff.)  :  to  -T^rxpdTroiii  oTvov  ov 
Tctunvreg  lu  tu  ispa.  Philo,  De  monarchia,  ii.  7.  Joseph.  Aittt.  iii.  12.  2; 
Bell.  Jud.  V.  5.  7.  Mishna,  Taanith  ii.  7.  Ugolini's  Thesaurn.<i,  xiii.  885  fF. 
(where  are  given  in  extenso  in  Hebrew  and  Latin  the  passages  from  the 
Jer.  Taanith  65d;  Tosefta,  Taanith  ii.,  Sifra  and  Pesikta  to  Lev.  x.  9). 

218  Joma  iii.  3 :  "No  priest  is  to  be  allowed  to  enter  the  court  for  the 
pm-pose  of  officiating,  even  though  he  he  already  clean,  without  having 
taken  a  bath ;  "  comp.  Tamid  i.  2.  A  bath  had  also  to  be  taken  above 
all  after  every  occasion  of  doing  their  needs,  Joma  iii.  2.  On  the  place 
where  the  bath  was  to  be  taken,  see  Tamid  i.  1 ;  Middoth  i.  9,  fin. 

219  Ex.  XXX.  17-21,  xl.  30-32.  Tamid  i.  4,  ii.  1.  Philo,  Vita  Mosis, 
iii.  15 :    cto^äj  f^de.'KtaTct  y,m  -/^slpxg  ccTroviTTTOfiivoi.     On  the  ~li>3  itself,  see 

also  Ex.  xxxviii.  8 ;  Sir.  1.  3  ;  Middoth  iii.  6  ;  Joma  iii.  10  ;  Tamid  iii.  8. 
Lightfoot,  Desert ptio  temjtli,  cap.  xxxvii.  1  {0pp.  i.  643  sq.).  Clemens,  De 
lahro  aeueo,  Traject.  ad  Rh.  1725  (also  in  Ugolini's  Thex.  vol.  xix.).  The 
commentaries  in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  ii.  223,  v.  360.  Iken,  Tractatus 
talmudicus  de  cultu  qnotidiano,  1736,  pp.  32-34  (full  of  matter).  AYiner's 
lieahcörterb.,  art.  "  Handfass."  Bähr's  Symbolik,  2nd  ed.  i.  pp.  583-586. 
Köhlers  Lchrb.  der  Bibl.  Geschichte,  i.  p.  373  f. 

2-"  On  the  sacrificial  worship  generally,  see  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jud. 
Heiligth.  book  iii.  chap,  xxxiii.-xlvi.  Bähr's  Symbolik,  ii.  187-522. 
Winer's  Realwörtcrb.,  art.  "Opfer;"  and  in  addition,  the  various  articles  on 
Braiidopfer,  Schuld-  und  Sündopfer,  Dankopfer,  Speisopfer,  Trankopfer, 
Räuchern,  etc.  Oehler's  art.  "  Opfercultus  des  alten  Testaments,"  in 
Herzog's  Real-Encycl.  (1st  ed.  x.  614-652,  2nd  ed.  xi.  29-61).  Thalhofer, 
Die  unblutigen  Opfer  des  mosaisch.  Cult.  1848.  Kurtz,  Der  alttestamcntUche 
Opftrcult.  nach  seiner  Begründung  und  Anweyidwig  dargestellt  und  erläutert, 
1862.  Kohler's  Lehrb.  der  Bibl.  Geschichte,  i.  p.  387.  Wellhausen, 
Geschichte  Israels,  i.  53-84.     Dillmann's  Exeget.  Handb.  zu  Exod.  u.  LeviL 


§  2J.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        279 

the  2>ncatc  saerifices.^^^  The  former  were  offered  in  name  of 
the  people,  and  were  purchased  witli  a  portion  of  the  people's 
own  offerings,  especially  the  half  -  shekel  tax  ;  while  the 
latter  again  were  those  in  which  only  private  individuals 
were  concerned,  and  which  might  be  offered  on  a  vast  variety 
of  occasions,  some  of  them  being  voluntary  and  others  of  them 
being,  for  some  particular  reason  or  other,  compulsory.  Both 
those  categories  again  were  sub-divided  into  different  sorts, 
varying  according  to  the  particular  objects  for  which  they 
were  offered,  though  they  all  admit  of  being  classified  under 
the  three  following  heads : — (1)  the  hurnt-offerings,  the 
essential  characteristic  of  which  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  whole 
victim  was  consumed  upon  the  altar;  (2)  the  sin-  and  the 
^?'cs2?«ss-üfferings,  in  the  case  of  which  only  the  fat  was  burnt 
upon  the  altar,  while  the  flesli  fell  to  the  priests  ;  (3)  the 
peace-offerings  (Q''P/*^  ''f???)»  according  to  Luther,  "  thank- 
offerings,"  in  the  case  of  which  again  it  was  only  the  fat  that 
was  burnt  upon  the  altar,  while  the  flesli  Nvas  used  by  the 
owner  of  the  sacrifice  himself  as  material  for  a  jocund 
sacrificial  feast."^     As   was  only  natural,  it  was  the  numerous 

pp,  373-387.     The  dictionaries  of  Schenkel  and  Riehm.  and  the  archaeo- 
logical works  of  De  AVette,  Ewald,  Keil,  Haneberg  and  others. 

--^  Philo,  De  vtctimix,  sec.  iii.  (ed.  Mang.,  ii.  238  f.)  :  'Ettei  Oi  ruv  dvatuu, 
eti  fAtv  ilai'j  UTTip  ccir a-'jio^  rov  'iduovg,  d  Si  "hu  ro  ii,7^r,dii  il~uv  UTrip 
»ToiUTOS  ecudpii-au  yiyov;,  eci  os  i/'rrs p  eKOLarov  tuv  iipovpystu  oi^iovvTUv 
y^iKTiou  vpoTipov  TTtpl  Tuv  xcit!>uu.  Joseph.  Anlt.  lü.  9.  1  :  8i/o  ftiii  yxp  iillU 
tspovpyt eti   TOVTUu  o    vj  y.i'j  vtto  rov  loturav,  irspx  o    'jtto  tok  oy;ciov  uvvTt- 

-22  In  the  leading  passage  on  the  classification  of  the  .sacrifices,  viz. 
Lev.  i.-vii.,  there  are,  strictly  speaking,  /('re  kadiny  hinds  of  them  niciitioned  : 
(1)  the  burnt-offering,  (2)  the  meat-offering,  (3)  the  peace-offering,  (4)  tlio 
sin-offering,  and  (5)  the  trespass-offering.  But  the  meat-offering  is 
oertaiidy  not  to  be  regarded  as  being  on  a  level  with  tiie  animal  sacrifices 
seeing  that,  like  the  drink-offering,  it  occurs  for  the  most  part  s>impiyas  au 
accompaniment  of  such  sacrifices.  With  regard  to  the  sin-  and  trespass- 
offerings,  they  are  no  doubt  distinct,  yet  they  are  so  much  akin  to  eicli 
other  that  they  may  well  be  regarded  as  one  species.  Consequently  in  tlie 
case  of  the  animal  siicrifices,  and  these  are  by  far  the  most  important  of  all, 
we  ought  to  distinguish  them  into  three  leading  kinds,  as  Philo  and 
Josephus  have  already  done  (the  former  De  cictimii-,  §  iv.,  and  the  latter 


280         §  2i.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP. 

private  offerings  of  so  many  different  kinds  that  constituted 
the  bulk  of  the  sacrifices.  However,  as  it  is  with  giving  an 
account  of  the  regular  daily  worship  of  the  sanctuary  that  we 
are  here  concerned,  it  is  only  the  public  sacrifices  that  fall  to 
be  considered  by  us,  and  especially  the  most  important  of 
them  all,  the  'people's  daily  hurnt-offering. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  be  in  a  better  position  for 
understanding  what  is  to  follow,  it  will  be  well,  before  pro- 
ceeding farther,  to  offer  here  one  or  two  topographical 
observations.^^^  The  viuicr  court,  within  which  the  whole 
of  the  worship  was  celebrated,  was  divided  by  means  of  a 
wall  into  two  divisions,  a  western  and  an  eastern.  The  latter 
was  called  "  the  court  of  the  women,"  oiot  however  because 
none  but  women  were  admitted  to  it,  but  because  women  as 
vxll  as  men  were  allowed  to  enter  it,^^*  The  beautiful  gate- 
way in  the  east  side  of  this  court,  with  its  elaborate  two- 
leaved  gate  made  of  brass  {rj  6vpa  r]  \e<yoiMevr}  oipaia,  Acts 
iii.  2),  formed  the  principal  entrance  to  it ;  and  hence  it  was 
that  beggars  were  in  the  habit  of  sitting  here  (Acts  iii.  2). 
The  western  division  again  was  reserved  exclusively  for  male 
Israelites,  and  within  it  stood  the  temple  proper.  Compara- 
tively speaking,  this  was  not  a  large,  but  a  handsome  edifice. 
The  interior,  which  was  probably  almost  quite  dark,  was 
divided  into  two  divisions,  the  larger  one  being  to  the  front, 

Antt.  iii.  9.  1-3).  The  wliole  three  classes  enter  into  puhlic  and  private 
sacrifices  alike,  although  ia  the  former  the  jKace-offering  (DVOpJ^  nZlT)  is, 
of  course,  of  but  rare  occurrence,  the  only  time  at  which  it  is  regularly 
offered  being  Pentecost  (Lev.  xxiii.  19)  ;  otherwise  we  meet  with  it  only  on 
special  occasions  (see  Winer's  liealwörterb.,  art.  "  Dankopfer").  The  flesh  of 
the  public  peace-offerings  belouged  to  the  priests  (Lev.  xxiii.  20).  On 
these  in  general,  see  Pesachini  vii.  4 ;  Sebachim  v.  5 ;  Menachoth  v.  7 ; 
Meila  ii.  5.  The  hurnt-offcrincjs  and  the  sin-offerimjs  offered  in  the  name  of 
the  whole  body  of  the  people  were  of  very  frequent  recurrence ;  see  the 
catalogue  of  those  for  festival  days  in  Num.  xxviii.-xxix. 

223  Pqj.  ^ijg  sources  and  literature  connected  with  the  temple  of  Herod, 
see  §  15,  above. 

--*  See  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  ii.  8 :  In  secundam  vero  porticum  (by 
•which  the  women's  court  is  meant)  cuncti  Judaei  iugrediebantur  eorumque 
conjuges. 


§  24.    THE  PrJESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHII'.         281 

and  the  other,  which  was  only  half  as  large,  being  at  the  back. 
The  latter  formed  the  "  holy  of  holies,"  which  was  trodden  by 
human  foot  only  once  in  tlie  year,  and  that  by  the  high  priest 
on  the  great  day  of  atonement.  In  the  front  (and  therefore 
eastern)  division  stood  those  three  sacred  articles,  the  punctual 
ministering  at  which  on  the  part  of  the  ofliciating  priests  formed 
one  of  the  principal  parts  of  the  worship,  viz. :  (1)  in  the 
middle  the  golden  altar  of  incense  (p^'^^J)  '^^IP),  known  also  as 
the  "  inner  altar  "  (^P^??'!  0?!^),  upon  which  incense  had  to  be 
offered  every  morning  and  evening  \^^  (2)  to  the  south  of  the 
latter  the  golden  candlestich  with  seven  branches  ('"Tji^P)» 
which  had  to  be  kept  constantly  burning  ;'"'^  and  (3)  to  the 

--'  On  the  daily  offering  of  the  incense,  see  Ex.  xxx.  7,  8.  On  the  pre- 
paration of  the  incense  itself,  Ex.  xxx.  34-38.  On  the  altar  of  incense, 
Ex.  XXX.  1-10,  xxxvii.  25-29  ;  1  Mace.  i.  21,  iv.  29.  Philo,  Vita  Mosis^ 
iii.  9.  De  victimis  offtvintibus,  sec.  iv.  Josephus,  Antt.  iii.  C.  8 ;  Bell.  Jud. 
V.  5.  h.  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jud.  Ihiligth.  book  i.  chap,  xxv.-xxvii.  Mono- 
graphs in  Ugoliui's  Thes.  vol.  xi.  "Winer's  L'ealwörterh.,  arts.  "Rauclieraltar" 
and  "  Käuchern."  Tlialhofer,  Die  unhlut.  Opfer  des  mos.  Cidtcs,  pp.  78-82 
131-139.  Bähr's  Sijmholik,  2nd  ed.  i.  pp.  499-505.  Bleek,  Der  Brief  an  die 
Hebräer,  ii.  2.  479  ff.,  note  on  ix.  4.  Leyrer's  arts.  "  Iliiucherultar  "  and 
"Räuchern,"  in  Herzog's  Jteul-EncycL,  1st  ed.  vol.  xii.  502-513.  The  same 
articles  in  the  second  edition  re-written  by  Orelli,  vol.  xii.  483—189. 
Delitzsch  in  Riehm's  Wörterb.  pp.  1255-1260.  nn^n  nSTO,  Joma  v.  5,  7; 
Chaff iga  iii.  8;  Sehachim  v.  2;  Metiaclivth  iii.  6,  iv.  4.  iC^Qn  DBIO,  Joma 
ii.  3,  V.  5 ;  Sebachim  iv.  2;  Meila  m.  4;  Tamid  iii.  6.  9,  vi.  1.  Well- 
hausen's  doubts  as  to  the  actual  existence  of  the  altar  of  incense  (,/ahrb.f. 
deutsche  Thcol.  1877,  p.  410  ff.)  are  disposed  of  by  a  unanimous  testimony  in 
its  favour  from  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  down  to  Joseplius  and  the  Mishna. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  certainly  appears  as  though  it  had  been  introduced  at 
a  somewhat  latish  period.  It  is  worth  noting  that  as  yet  Psendo- 
Hecataeus  (in  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  i.  22,  ed.  Bekker,  p.  201,  19-21) 
mentions  nothing  else  as  being  in  the  interior  of  the  temple  but  the 
candlestick  and  a  golden  ßuciö:,  which  latter  might  as  readily  be  supposed 
to  refer  to  the  table  for  the  shewbread  as  to  the  altar  of  incense. 

^-''  On  the  duties  connected  with  the  candlestick,  see  Ex.  xxvii.  20,  21, 
xxx.  7,  8;  Lev.  xxiv.  1-t  ;  Num.  viii.  1-4;  2  Chron.xiii.il.  From  the 
passages  just  quoted  it  would  seem  as  though  the  lamps  on  the  candlestick 
were  to  be  lighted  only  in  the  evening  with  a  view  to  their  burning  during 
the  night.  So  also  Philo,  De  victimis  oj'erciitibus,  sec.  vii.  init.  But,  according 
to  Joseph.  Aiitt.  iii.  8.  3,/(n.,  on  the  other  hand,  three  of  the  lamps  were 
kept  burning  during  the  day  and  the  whole  seven  during  the  night  ;  while 
according  to  the  Mishna  only  07ie  was  lighted  during  the  day  and  the  whole 


282        §  21.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP, 

north  of  the  altar  of  incense  the  golden  tcibU  for  the  sluio- 
hrcacl,  on  which  twelve  fresh  loaves  had  to  be  placed  every 
Sabbath  day.''^  The  front  of  the  temple  looked  toward  the 
east.  Before  it  and  in  the  open  air  stood  the  great  altar  of 
Imrnt- offering,  or  "  the  altar "  Kar  e^o'^tjv,  at  which,  with  the 
exception  of  the  burning  of  the  incense,  every  act  of  sacrifice 
had  to  be  performed.  It  was  a  high  four-square  erection  of 
large  dimensions,  being,  according  to  the  Mishna,  thirty-two 
cubits  square  at  the  base  (while  for  the  sake  of  comparison  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  the  interior  of  the  temple  was  only 
twenty  cubits  wide).  It  diminished  in  size  toward  the  top 
in  such  a  way  as  to  form  several  stages  or  landings  round  it, 
although  on  the  top  it  still  measured  as  much  as  twenty-four 

seven  at  night  {Tamid  iii.  9,  vi.  1,  and  the  reference  to  those  passages  by 
Krüger,  T/ieol.  Quartahclir.  1857,  p.  248  f.).  Comp,  further,  Pseudo- 
Hecataeus  in  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  i.  22  :  iTtrt  tovtuv  (pug  hrtv  »vccTroafiiarou 
y.ot.1  T54.C  vvnTx;  n»l  ru:  Tj^uspx;.  Diodor.  xxxiv.  1  (ed.  Müller) :  rou  oi 
xdxuxrou  Xsyofisvou  irct,^  oii/ro7;  Xv)(,vov  x,ou  xotiofuvov  döixKuTrrug  su  tu 
vee.^'.  On  the  candlestick  itself,  see  Ex.  xxv.  31-40,  xxxvii.  17-24;  1  Mace, 
i.  21,  iv.  49.  Philo,  Vita  310ns,  iii.  9.  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  6,  7;  Bell.  Jud. 
V.  5.  5,  vii.  5.  5.  Mishna,  Menachofh  iii.  7,  iv.  4,  ix.  3,ßn.;  Tamid  iii.  6,  9, 
vi.  1.  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jikl.  Heiligth.  book  i.  chap,  xxiii.  Winer's  Real- 
loörterh.,  art.  "Leuchter."  B'ähr,  Symbolik,  2nd  ed.  i.  492-499.^  Krüger, 
Der  sicbcnarmige  Leuchter  (Tüh.  Thcol.  Quartalschr.  1857,  pp.  238-261). 
Riehm's  Wörterb.,  art.  "  Leuchter"  (with  illustrations).  On  the  position  of 
the  candlestick  to  the  south  of  the  altar  of  incense,  see  Ex.  xxvi.  35, 
xl.  24. 

22'  On  the  duties  connected  with  the  table  of  shewbread,  see  Lev. 
xxiv.  5-9.  Philo,  De  victimis,  sec.  iii.  (ed.  Mang.,  ii.  239  f.).  Josephus, 
Antt.  üi.  10.  7.  On  the  table  of  shewbread  itself,  see  Ex.  xxv.  23-30, 
xxxvii.  10-16 ;  1  Mace.  i.  22,  iv.  49.  Philo,  Vita  Mosis,  iii.  10.  Joseph. 
Antt.  iii.  6.  6  ;  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  5,  vii.  5.  5.  Mishna,  Menachoth  xi.  5-7. 
Comp,  further  the  description  of  the  table  alleged  to  have  been  presented 
to  the  temple  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  as  given  by  Pseudo-Aristeas 
(Havercamp's  Joseph,  ii.  2.  109-111.  Merx'  Archiv,  i.  264-267.  Joseph. 
Antt.  xii.  2.  7,  8).  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jiid.  Heiligth.  book  i.  chap.  xxiv. 
Winer's  Realwörterb.,  arts.  "  Schaubrode  "  and  "  Schaubrodtisch."  Bähr's 
Symbolik,  2nd  ed.  i.  pp.  488-492.  Thalhofer,  Die  unblut.  Opfer  des  mon. 
Cultes,  pp.  73-78,  156-168.  Leyrer,  arts.  "  Schaubrod  "  and  "  Schau- 
brodtisch," in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  1st  ed.  vol.  xiii.  467-472.  Delitzsch  in 
Riehm's  Wörterb.  pp.  1388-1392  (with  an  illustration).  Strack  in  Herzog's 
Beal-Encycl.,  2nd  ed.  vol.  xiii.  455-458.  On  the  position  of  the  table  to  the 
north  of  the  altar  of  incense,  see  Ex.  xxvi.  35,  xl.  22. 


§  21.    THE  PF.IESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.         283 

cubits  by  twenty-four."'*  The  whole  structure  was  built  of 
unhewn  stones  which  no  tool  had  ever  touched.^^''  Then,  on 
the  south  side,  there  was  a  gradual  ascent  leading  upward  to 
the  top  of  the  altar,  and  this  was  likewise  formed  of  unhewn 
stones.  The  fire  upon  this  altar  had  to  be  kept  continually 
burning  by  night  as  well  as  by  day.^^**  Between  the  temple 
and  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  there  stood,  and  likewise  in 
the  open  air,  the  hrtzen  laver  pi*?)  already  referred  to,  in 
which  the  priests  were  required  to  wash  their  hands  and  feet 
previous  to  their  engaging  in  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary. 
To  the  north  of  the  altar,  and  still  in  the  open  air,  was  the 
place  for  slaughtering  the  victims,  where  there  were  rings 
fastened  in  the  ground  to  which  the  animals  were  tied  when 

22S  Comp,  in  particular,  the  descriptions  of  it  in  the  Mislina,  Middoth 
iii.  1— ±,  and  in  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  6  ;  further,  Pseudo-Hecataeus  ia 
Joseph,  contra  Apion.  i.  22  (ed.  Bekker,  p.  264.  16  £f.)  ;  Aristeas,  ed.  M. 
Schmidt  in  Merx'  Archiv^  i.  269  f.  (in  Havercamp's  Josephus,  ii.  2.  112) ; 
1  Mace.  iv.  44—47.  Philo,  De  victimis  ojercndbus,  sec.  iv.  Also  measure- 
ments given  in  Ezek.  xliii.  13-17.  Monographs  in  Ugolini's  Thcs.  vol.  x. 
Winer's  Recdworterb.,  art,  "  Braudopferaltar."  Bähr's  Sytnbolik,  2nd  ed.  i. 
pp.  579-582. 

"^  Pseudo-Hecataeus  in  Josephus,  contra  Apion.  i.  22 :  oüx,  Ix.  rfiri'^v 
«XX'  I»  avKKiKTuv  upyZv  Xi'd^y.  1  Macc.  iv.  47.  Philo,  De  victimis 
offerentibns,  sec.  iv.  :  iy.  "hiduu  Myuh.-iv  x.ctl  drfi'/iruu.  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  6. 
Mishna,  Middoth  iii.  4.  The  oldest  and  most  primitive  altars  were  un- 
dovxbtcdly  made  merely  of  rough  stones  taken  from  the  field,  or  even  of 
simple  heaps  of  earth ;  and  the  Jehovistic  legislation  proceeds  on  the 
assumption  that  these  -were  the  kind  tliat  were  still  in  ordinary  use  (Ex. 
XX.  24-2G  ;  comp.  Deut,  xxvii.  5,  6).  But  we  find  that  as  early  as  the  days 
of  Solomon  this  monarch  ordered  a  brazen  altar  to  be  erected  in  Jerusalem 
(1  Kings  viii.  64,  ix.  25  ;  2  Kings  xvi.  14,  15  ;  2  Chron.  iv.  1).  The  priest- 
code,  inasmuch  as  it  seeks  to  describe  the  whole  sanctuary  as  bi-iug  of  a 
portable  character,  accordingly  represents  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  as 
having  been  made  of  wood  and  covered  with  brass  (Ex.  xxvii.  1-8, 
xxxviii.  1-7 ;  Num.  xvii.  1-5).  We  can  scarcely  think  that  one  of  this 
description  ever  existed.  The  practice  of  post-exilic  times  reverted  rather 
to  a  compliance  with  the  older  legal  prescriptions  contained  in  Ex.  xx.  25  ; 
Deut.  xxvii.  5,  0.  Comp,  in  general,  Wellhausen's  Geschichte,  i.  pp.  30, 
38  f. 

-^^  Lev.  vi.  6.  Philo,  De  victimis  offcretitibus,  sec.  v.  init.  (cd.  Mangey, 
ii.  254).  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  6.  Comp,  further,  2  Macc.  i.  18-36,  and 
Buxtorf,  Ilistoria  if/nis  sacri  ct  cockstis  sacrißcia  consumcntis  (in  Ugolini's 
T/ies.  vol.  X.).     Lundius,  Die  alt.  jud.  Heiligth.  book  i.  chap,  xxxiv. 


284        §  2-1.    THE  ITJESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP. 

aljout  to  be  slaughtered ;  while  there  were  pillars  at  hand  on 
which  to  hang  the  victims  after  they  were  killed,  as  well 
as  marble  tables  on  wliich  to  skin  them  and  wash  the 
entrails.'^"^  The  temple,  along  with  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering  and  the  place  for  slaughtering,  was  surrounded  by 
an  enclosure  within  which,  as  a  rule,  none  but  priests  were 
allowed  to  enter,  ordinary  Israelites  being  permitted  to  do  so 
only  "  when  it  was  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  the  laying  on 
of  hands,  or  for  slaughtering,  or  waving  "  (ns^:ri).-''^ 

Now,  as  regards  the  regular  worship  of  the  sanctuary,  the 
most  important  part  of  it  was  the  daily  hurnt-offering  offered 
in  the  name  of  the  people  at  large,  the  "i^pj^D  ^V,  or  simply 
Tiprin,  "  the  standing  one."  ^^^  The  practice  of  offering  regular 
daily  sacrifice  is,  comparatively  speaking,  of  very  ancient  date. 
But  it  underwent  certain  modifications  at  different  periods ; 
not  only  in  so  far  as,  previous  to  the  exile,  the  kings  were  in 
the  habit  of  defraying  the  cost  of  the  sacrifices  (Ezek.  xlv.  17 
and  xlvi.  13-15,  Sept.  version),  whereas  they  were  subsequently 
provided  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  but  also  as  regards  the 
character  and  number  of  the  sacrifices  themselves.^"*     In  the 

231  Mkldoth  iii.  5,  v.  2 ;  TamUl  iii.  5 ;  Shckaliin  vi.  4.  That  the 
elaughtering  of  the  burnt-offerings  had  to  take  place  to  the  north  of  the 
altar  is  prescribed  as  early  as  Lev.  i.  11.  But  it  was  further  required  that 
the  sin-  and  trespass-offerings  should  also  be  slaughtered  at  the  very  same 
place  (Lev.  iv.  24,  29,  33,  vi.  18,  vii.  2,  xiv.  13).  This  prescription  is 
omitted  only  in  the  case  of  the  peace-offerings;  see  Knobel-Üillmann's 
note  on  Lev.  i.  11.  For  more  precise  information  as  to  the  places  where 
the  victims  were  slaughtered,  see  Scbachhn  v. 

232  On  this  enclosure,  see  especially,  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  6  ;  Antt. 
xiii.  13.  5.  But  according  to  Kelim  i.  8,  ordinary  Israelites  were  also 
allowed  to  enter  this  "  court  of  the  priests  "  for  the  purposes  stated  in  the 
text. 

233  ^>ij2nn  n^y,  for  example,  in  Num.  xxviii.  10,  15,  24,  31,  xxix.  IG,  19, 
22,  25,  28,  31,  34,  38 ;  Ezra  iii.  5 ;  Neh.  x.  34.  "l^Drin,  for  example,  in 
Dan.  viii.  11-13,  xi.  31.  xii.  12  ;  Mishua,  Pemchhn  v.  1  ;  Jama  vii.  8  ; 
T'aan'ith  iv.  G  ;  Mcnachoth  iv.  4.  It  is  from  this  that  the  whole  tractate 
bearing  the  title  of  Tumid  derives  its  name. 

23*  For  what  follows,  comp.  Kuenen,  De  godsdicnst  van  Israel,  ii.  270- 
272.  Wellhausen's  Geschichte  Israels,!,  pp.  81,  82.  Eeuss, Lliistoire  sainfe 
et  la  hi  {La  Bible,  Anciai  Testament,  part  iii.),  i.  202.     Smend's  Exeget. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        285 

time  of  Aliaz  the  morning  sacrifice  consisted  only  of  a  burnt- 
offering,  and  the  evening  one  of  simply  a  meat-offering 
(2  Kings  xvi.  15).  This  had  become  so  much  of  an  established 
practice  that  various  parts  of  the  day  took  their  names  from 
it.  To  speak  for  example  of  anything  as  happening  at  the 
time  "  when  the  meat-offering  was  presented  "  was  equivalent 
to  saying  toward  evening  (1  Kings  xviii.  29,  36).  Not  only 
so,  but  this  mode  of  denoting  the  hour  of  the  day  had  become 
so  completely  established  that  it  continued  in  use  even 
long  after  the  practice  had  been  introduced  of  offering  a 
burnt-offering  in  the  evening  as  well  (Ezra  ix.  4,  5  ;  Dan.  ix. 
21).-^^  It  would  appear  that  this  had  not  been  introduced 
as  yet  in  Ezekiel's  time.  Yet  in  his  day  there  must  have 
been  already  an  advance  upon  tlie  older  practice,  in  so  far  as, 
according  to  this  prophet,  both  a  burnt-offering  and  a  meat- 
offering would  seem  to  have  been  offered  in  the  mornimj 
(Ezek.  xlvi.  13-15).  On  the  other  hand,  by  tlie  time  the 
priest-code  came  to  be  in  force  it  was  prescribed  that  hoth 
a  hurnt-offcring  and  a  meat-offering  should  he  offered  every 
morning  and  every  evening  as  loell,  and  further,  that  on  every 
occasion  they  should  also  be  accompanied  with  a  drink- 
offering  (Ex.  xxix.  38-42;  Xum,  xxviii.  3-8).  And  so 
we  find  that,  in  the  time  of  the  author  of  the  Chronicles,  the 
practice  thus  established  of  offering  a  burnt-offering  twice 
every  day  in  the  course  of  the  daily  service  was  looked  upon 
as  one  of  long  standing  (1  Chron.  xvi.  40  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  11, 
xxxi.  3).  This  then  formed  the  true  heart  and  centre  of 
the  whole  sacrificial  system  of  worship.  In  no  circumstances 
whatever  could  it  be  allowed  to  be  dispensed  with.  We  find, 
for  example,  that  in  the  year   70   Jerusalem  had  for  a  con- 

Handbuch  zu  Ezekiel,  p,  381  f.  The  objections  advanced  by  Dillmann, 
Exegct.  Handbuch  zu  Exod.  u.  Levit.  p.  313,  can  in  no  way  affect  what  is  a 
simple  and  undoubted  matter  of  fact. 

-^^  In  the  Mishna  even  the  expression  "time  of  the  miuchah''  (of  the 
meat-offering)  continues  to  be  used  as  equivalent  to  the  afternoon ;  for 
example,  Bcrachoth  iv.  1 ;  Pesachim  x.  1  ;  Rosh  hashana,  iv.  i  ;  Mc(j'dla 
iii.  6,  iv.  1. 


286         §  24.    THE  PPJESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP. 

sicleraLle  time  been  invested  by  the  liomans,  and  that,  in 
consequence,  the  scarcity  of  food  had  reached  a  climax,  but 
for  all  that  the  daily  sacrifices  continued  to  be  regularly 
offered ;  and  it  was  felt  by  the  Jews  to  be  one  of  the  heaviest 
calamities  that  could  have  befallen  them  when,  on  the  l7th 
of  Tammuz,  they  at  last  found  themselves  in  the  position  of 
having  no  more  to  offer.^^^ 

The  following  are  the  more  specific  prescriptions  contained 
in  the  priest  -  code  with  regard  to  the  Tamicl  (Ex.  xxxix. 
38-42  ;  iSTum.  xxviii.  3-8).'^^  Every  morning  and  evening 
alike  a  male  lamb  of  a  year  old  and  without  blemish  was  to  be 
offered  as  a  hurnt-offering ,  and  in  doing  so  all  those  regulations 
were  required  to  be  observed  that  apply  to  burnt-offerings 
generally,  particularly  those  contained  in  Lev.  i.  10—13  and 
vi.  1-6.  Not  only  so,  but  on  every  occasion  a  meat-offering 
and  a  drinh-offering  were  to  be  offered  along  with  the  burnt- 
offering,  as  it  is  prescribed  by  the  priest-code  that  these  w^ere 
to  accompany  all  burnt-offerings  without  exception  (Num.  xv. 
1—16).  In  cases  in  which  the  victim  happened  to  be  a  lamb, 
the  meat-offering  was  to  consist  of  one-tenth  of  an  ephah  of 
fine  flour  (n.^°),  which  was  to  be  mixed  Q^^'^,  therefore  not 
baked)  with  a  quarter  of  a  bin  of  pure  oil ;  while  the  corre- 
sponding drink-offering  was  to  consist  of  a  quarter  of  a  hin  of 
wine.  The  time  at  which  the  morning  sacrifice  was  to  be 
offered  was  early  dawn ;  that  for  the  evening  sacrifice  again 
was  to  be,  in  Biblical  phraseology,  D;'3"iyn  p3^  ix.  in  the  evening 
twilight,  though  at  a  later  period  it  had  become  the  practice 
to    offer  the  evening  sacrifice  so  early  as  the    afternoon,  or 

236  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  2.  1 ;  Mislma,  Taanith  iv.  6.  Similarly  in  the 
days  of  the  persecution  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes  the  suppression  of  the 
Tamkl  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  serious  calamities  possible  (Dan. 
viii.  11-13,  xi.  31,  xii.  11). 

-s-"  Comp,  further,  Lightfoot's  Ministerium  templi,  cap.  ix.  {0pp.  i.  716- 
722).  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jud.  Heiligtli.  book  v.  chap,  i.-ii.  Winer's  Real- 
wörterb.,  art.  "  Morgen-  imd  Abeudopfer."  Keil,  Haiulb.  der  hibl.  Archaeol. 
(2nd  ed.  1875)  p.  373  f.  Haueberg,  Die  religiösen  Alterthiimer,  pp.  604- 
609.  For  full  details,  consult  the  tractate  Tamid,  and  comp,  note  250, 
below. 


§  21.    THE  PEIESTIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP.        287 

according  to  our  mode  of  reckouiug,  somewhere  about  three 
o'clock."-^^ 

It  was  also  the  regular  practice  to  offer  the  daily  meat- 
offering of  the  hiyh  priest  in  couj unction  with  the  daily  burnt- 
offering  of  the  people.  For,  according  to  Lev.  vi.  12—16,  the 
high  priest  was  required  to  offer  a  meat-offering  every  day 
(T'Dri),--^^  both  morning  and  evening,  and  one  too  which  differed 
from  that  offered  in  the  name  of  the  people  along  with  their 
burnt-offering,  not  only  in  respect  of  quantity,  but  also  as 
regards  the  mode  in  which  it  was  prepared.  It  consisted 
altogether  of  only  the  tenth  of  an  ephah  of  fine  flour,  of 
which  one  half  was  offered  in  the  morning  and  the  other  half 
in  the  evening ;  and  not  only  was  it  mixed  with  oil,  but  after 
being  so  it  was  hahed  in  a  flat  pan  (n3no) ;  the  cakes  thus 
prepared  were  then  broken  into  pieces,  oil  was  poured  over 
them,  and  then  they  were  duly  offered  (Lev.  vi.  14;  comp.  Lev. 

^^"^  On  the  principal  occasion  on  wliich  tbey  speak  of  the  Tamid,  Philo 
and  Josephus  simply  reproduce  the  scriptural  statements  with  regard  to 
the  times  for  offering  it  (Philo,  De  victimis,  sec.  iii. :  Kxff  sKxar^v  fiiu  ovv 
i^uAootv  O'jti  »(/.'jov;  »'juyitv  oisip/irxi,  toi/  fii'j  oiy^a  tyi  su,  tov  ti  oiiXri:  io'üioa;. 
Joscpb.  Aiitt.  iii.  10.  1  :  iy^ot  tov  o/juoaiov  dvxXuf/.aTo;  uöy^o;  ia~l'j  xpuct  Kits' 
kKadTYiv  ijfiipxv  afcc^sadcn  ruu  cci/rosraiv  cipx,o,uivYi;  re  ijyipx;  x,»i  ^/lyovuYi;}. 
What  the  actual  practice  was  in  later  times  is  clearly  evident  from  Antt.  xiv. 
4.  3  :  Sij  TVji  Tjiiipcc;,  'izpui  ts  x,oti  ■Trspl  ivocTYiv  upccv,  hpovp'/ov'JTUV  iTTt  rot) 
ßcüf/.(jv.  This  entirely  accords  with  the  statement  of  the  Mishna  (Pesachim 
V.  1),  to  the  effect  that  the  evening  sacrifice  was  usually  slaughtered  about 
half-past  eight  and  offered  about  half-past  nine  o'clock  (consequently, 
according  to  our  reckouiüg,  about  half-past  two  and  half-past  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon).  Comp,  further,  Josephus,  contra  Apion.  ii.  8  (cd.  Bekker, 
p.  239)  :  Mane  ctiam  aperto  templo  oportebat  facientes  traditas  hostias 
iutroire  et  mcridie  rursus  dum  clauderetur  templum.  And  hence  it  was 
also  the  practice  to  go  to  tlie  temple  about  the  ninth  hour  for  devotional 
purposes  (Acts  iii.  1,  x.  3,  30).  See  in  general,  Herzfeld's  dxchichte  des 
Volkes  Jisrael,  iii.  184  f. 

2""  With  this  it  is  impossible  to  reconcile  the  words  "  in  the  day  when 
he  is  anointed,"  Lev.  vi.  20 ;  one  or  other  is  a  later  interpolation.  See 
Dillmann's  Exeget.  Havdh.  zu  Exod.  n.  Levit.  p.  442.  Jewish  and  Christian 
expositors  have  endeavoured  in  various  ways  to  dispose  of  tbu  discrepancy 
contained  in  this  passage.  See  Fraukel,  Cchcr  den  Eivjittss  der  palästin' 
ischen  Exegese  auf  die  alexandrinische  Hermeneutik  (1851),  p.  143  f. 
Luiidius,  Die  alt.  jiid.  Ileiligth.  book  iii.  chap.  ix.  Thalliufor,  Die  unbluL 
Opfer  des  mos.  Cultes  (1848),  pp.  139-1  Jl. 


288        §  21.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP. 

ii.  5-6).^^°  Owing  to  the  circumstance  of  its  being  made  ready 
in  a  nano,  it  was  known  at  a  later  period  simply  as  the 
^"'0"'?n,  "  t^^^  haked  (the  cakes),  which  is  the  designation  already 
given  to  it,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  the  author  of  the 
Chronicles,^*^  and  subsequently  by  the  Mislina  in  particular.^*^ 
Now  as  the  presenting  of  this  offering  was  incumbent  upon 
the  liigli  priest,  we  are,  of  course,  justified  in  speaking  of  him 
as  offering  a  daily  sacrifice.^*^  At  the  same  time  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  here  the  high  priest  is  to  be  regarded  as 
the  offerer  of  the  sacrifice  only  in  the  same  sense  in  which 
the  people  is  so  in  the  case  of  the  daily  burnt-offering,  i.e.  he 
causes  it  to  be  offered  in  his  name  and  at  his  own  expense,^'^ 
but  it  was  by  no  means  necessary  that  he  himself  should 
officiate  on  the  occasion.  In  fact  the  expression  used  in  con- 
nection with  this  matter  in  Lev.  vi.  1 5  is  not  n''"ip^  but  merely 

-*"  On  the  mode  of  preparation,  comp,  further,  Philo,  De  victimis,  sec.  xv. 
Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  10.  7 ;  j\JenacJioth  xi.  3.  Both  ntJ'v  (kneading)  and 
n*DX  (baking)  formed  part  of  the  process.  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jiid.  Ileiligth. 
book  iii.  chap,  xxxix.  pp.  56-61.     Thalhofer,  Die  unUut.  Opfer,  p.  151  if. 

2*1  1  Chron.  ix.  81.  In  this  passage  the  Septuagint  simply  paraphrases  the 
words  D^n^nn  nb'J/'O  as  follows  :  t«  'ipyx  tyi;  dvatx;  toD  Trr/ä.vw  tow 
f/i.i'/a.'Kov  ispicjg.  So  also  Gesenius,  Thesaurus,  under  DTlDn.  But  it  is 
probable  that  the  author  of  the  Chronicles  may  have  had  in  view  the  baked 
meat-offering  generally,  and  not  that  of  the  high  priest  alone. 

^^^  Tamid  i.  3,  iii.  1,  iy.fin.;  Joma  ii.  3,  iii.  4  ;  Menaclioth  iv.  5,  xi.  3  ; 
Middotli  i.  -4. 

2*3  Philo,  De  specialibus  legibus,  ii.  sec.  xxiii.  (Mang.  ii.  321) :  siixi>t;  Ii 
Kul  öuaiu;  TihZiv  x.a.S'  iKÜ-arnv  ij/^ipctv.  The  well-known  passage  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (vii.  27)  is  also  to  be  explained  on  this  ground ; 
only  it  must  be  understood  that  this  daily  meat-offering  on  the  part  of  the 
high  priest  was  not  a  sin-offering,  as  the  passage  in  question  might  lead  one 
to  suppose.  On  several  Talmudic  passages  in  which,  either  apparently  or 
in  reality,  it  is  the  daily  offering  of  a  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  high  priest 
that  is  in  question,  see  Herzfeld's  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Jisrael,  ii.  p.  140  f. 

2*4  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  10.  7  :  6vit  V  6  /s/jsyj  (=the  high  priest)  ix.  rZu  loiau 
ecux'hcofiii.rav,  x,cti  Ot;  SKxaTr,;  iif/,ipotg  rovro  "Troiii,  »hivpov  iXuia  fn/axyfihov 
Kui  '^i'TTYiyo;  ovT/iOit  ßpctxiix'  x,ul  it;  f^kv  kariu  »aaxpuy  tov  ci7\ivpoii,  tovtov  Si 
TO  fiii/  '/ifiifjv  Tirpui  TO  V  i-epou  ost'>.-/i;  iTn^pipn  tw  ■7:vpi.  When  a  high  priest 
died,  the  meat-offering  had  to  be  furnished  at  the  expense  of  the  people 
(according  to  Rabbi  Juda,  Shelcalim  \ü.  6,  at  the  expense  of  his  heirs)  until 
his  successor  was  installed. 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        289 

DE'yv  We  learn  from  Josephus  that  the  high  priest  officiated 
as  a  rule  on  the  Sabbath  and  on  festival  days  (see  p.  255, 
above).  But  on  ordinary  occasions  the  meat-offering  of  the 
high  priest,  in  common  with  the  sacrifices  of  the  people,  was 
offered  by  the  priests  who  happened  to  be  officiating  for  the 
time  being ;  and  when  the  lots  were  drawn  with  the  view  of 
deciding  who  were  to  take  the  various  parts  of  the  service  for 
tlie  day,  one  was  always  drawn  at  the  same  time  to  determine 
who  was  to  be  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  presenting  the  T^'^^ü., 
i.e.  the  meat-offering  of  the  high  priest.^'*'  Nay  more — 
seeing  that  the  law  speaks  of  this  offering  as  being  an  offering 
of  Aaron  and  his  sons  (Lev.  vi.  13), — there  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  also  be  conceived  of  as  a  sacrifice  which 
the  priests  offered  for  themselves.^*^ 

Besides  the  offering  of  the  sacrifices  just  referred  to,  the 
priests  in  the  course  of  the  daily  service  were  also  called 
upon  to  perform  certain  functions  inside  the  temple  in  con- 
nection with  the  altar  of  incense  and  the  candlestick.  On  the 
former  incense  had  to  be  offered  every  morning  and  every 
evening  alike  (Ex.  xxx.  7,  8),  that  offered  in  the  morning 
being  2Jfevious  to  the  offering  of  the  burnt-offering,  and  that  in 

2*5  Tamid  iii.  1,  iv.  fin. ;  Joma  ii.  3.  It  is  true,  no  doubt,  that,  strictlj' 
speaking,  what  is  in  view  in  the  passages  here  referred  to  is  not  the  actual 
offering  of  the  sacrifice,  but  the  bringing  of  the  materials  of  it  to  the  ascent 
leading  to  the  top  of  the  altar.  Still,  according  to  Tamid  v.  2,  Jo7na  iL 
4-5,  there  was  also  appointed  for  the  actual  offering  (the  carrying  of  the 
sacrifice  up  to  the  altar  hearth)  precisely  tiie  same  number  of  priests  again 
as  were  employed  in  bringing  it  to  the  foot  of  the  altar,  viz.  nine,  corre- 
sponding to  the  nine  parts  of  which  the  sacrifice  was  composed,  and  among 
which,  even  in  the  passages  first  referred  to  (Tamid  iii.  1,  iv.fin.;  ,/oina 
ii.  3),  the  pn"'3n  are  expressly  mentioned.  Consequently,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  whatever  tliat  the  actual  offering  of  the  pn^3n  also  devolved,  as  a  rule, 
upon  an  ordinary  priest. 

2*"  Philo,  Quis  rerum  div.  Jieres.  sec.  xxxvi.  (Mang.  i.  497)  :  'Axx«  x«<  tx; 
ivhikiXiii  övaiug  öpof.;  tt:  laa  "ht'/jor^ivec;,  «ji/  n  VTrep  otVTUv  ocviyova tv  o! 
iipi^i  Old  T^j  (7£^<o«X£«j,  Kotl  T7iv  VTio  ToD  idubv;  Tuv  Zvolv  ecuvuv,  oC; 
dux^ipitv  OtiipYiTxt.  De  viciimis,  sec.  xv.  (ed.  Mang.  ii.  250)  :  2t,«<o«/./c  yaio 
ij  iuOty^S'/C»!;  uiiTuv  dvaiei  /nirpov  iipov  to  OiKxrov  xu$'  ix.üaTriV  ijuioxv,  oy  to 
ftiv  r,u,tav  T^puixg,  76  OS  ry.tov  isi>.r,;  TrpijaxyeTXi  rxyr,yi<j6i!/  in  'o.xiu,  fiY,0:i/6; 
tig  ßoiiat'J  i'770>.n(pdivT0s. 

1>1V.  II.  VOL.  I.  T 


290         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

the  evening,  on  the  other  hand,  coming  nficr  it,  so  that  the 
daily  burnt-offering  was,  as  it  were,  girt  round  with  the  offer- 
ing of  incense.  '  Then  further,  with  regard  to  the  ca7idlesticJc, 
it  had  to  be  attended  to  every  morning  and  every  evening. 
In  the  morning  the  lamps  were  trimmed  and  replenished  with 
oil,  when  one  or  more  of  them  (according  to  Josephus  three) 
were  allowed  to  burn  throughout  the  day.  In  the  evening 
again  the  rest  of  them  were  lighted,  for  it  was  prescribed 
tliat  during  the  night  the  whole  seven  were  to  be  burning 
(see  especially  Ex.  xxx.  7,  8 ;  2  Chrou.  xiii.  1 1  ;  and  in 
general,  j).  281,  above). 

Then  lastly,  with  the  view  of  imparting  greater  beauty  to 
the  worship,  it  was  also  deemed  proper  to  have  vocal  and 
instmmental  music.  When  the  burnt-offering  was  being  pre- 
sented the  Levites  broke  in  with  singing  and  playing  upon 
their  instruments,  while  two  priests  blew  silver  trumpets 
(2  Chron.  xxix.  26-28  ;  Num.  x.  1,  2,  10).  While  this  was 
going  on  the  people  were  also  assembled  in  the  temple  for 
prayer.  At  the  pauses  in  the  singing  the  priests  sounded  a 
fanfare  with  their  trumpets,  and  as  often  as  they  did  so  the 
people   fell   down    and   worshipped.^*^     There  was   a   special 

2*''  Philo,  De  victimis,  sec.  iii.  (Mangey,  ii.  239)  :  Zlg  os  >c»d'  sicccar^v 
i]/ü£pxv  iTridvfAiArxt  r»  xavrwy  ivotöidTot-TX  &i)^tot.(/t,ä,TUU  iha  tos/  kxtocttstxi- 
/icxro;^  oiviax'iUTog  i^hiov  y,»l  dvofcsvov  "z-po  rs  -rii;  kuÖiuij;  dvaioct;  y.xl  y.iroe, 
r'/jy  id'Trsptvyiv.  De  victimis  (iffereniibus, sec.  iv.  (Maug.ii.  254) :  oi>  yxp  Itphrxt 
T'^u  6a6x,xvtou  6v(jixv  s^a  7rpo(7xyw/iii/,  -Trplu  ivtov  Ti'ipl  ßxdvi/  opdpov  I'ttiSv- 
l^txaxt.  Still  more  precise  is  the  statement  of  the  Mishna  (Joma  iii.  5),  to 
the  effect  that  "  the  offering  of  the  morning  incense  took  place  between  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  and  the  offering  of  the  various  parts  of  the  victim ; 
while  the  corresponding  evening  one  occurred  between  the  offering  of  these 
portions  and  the  drink-offering." 

2*8  On  the  assembling  of  the  people  in  the  temple  for  prayer,  see  Ijuke 
i.  10  ;  Acts  iii.  1.  For  more  precise  information,  as  furnished  by  the 
tractate  Taniid,  see  below.  It  is  quite  a  mistake  to  suppose,  as  has  been 
done  through  a  misapprehension  of  Acts  ii.  15,  iii.  1,  x.  3,  9,  30,  that  the 
third,  sixth,  and  ninth  hours  of  the  day  (therefore,  according  to  our  reckon- 
ing, nine,  twelve,  and  three  o'clock)  were  regular  stated  times  for  prayer 
(so,  for  example,  Schoettgen,  Ilorae  liehr.  i.  418.  Winer's  Realwörtcrb. 
i.  398.  De  Wette's  note  on  Acts  ii.  15  ;  and  Meyer's  on  Acts  iii.  1).  The 
actual  times  for  prayer  were  rather  the  three  following  : — (1)  early  in  the 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.      291 

psalm  for  every  day  of  the  Aveek,  tlie  one  for  Siinday  being 
the  24th,  for  Monday  the  48th,  for  Tuesday  the  82iid,  fur 
Wednesday  the  94th,  for  Thursday  tlie  81st,  for  Friday  the 
9ord,  and  for  the  Sabbath  the  92nd.-"'^ 

The  form  of  the  daily  service  in  the  temple  whicli  we  have 
just  been  describing,  is   the  same  as  that  which   had   been 

moniiiisr,  at  the  time  of  the  morninj?  sacrifice  ;  (2)  in  tbe  afternoon,  about 
the  ninth  hour  (three  o'clock),  at  the  time  of  the  evening  sacrifice  •  and 
(3)  in  the  evening  at  sunset.  See  Beraclioih  i.  1  ff.,  iv.  1.  HerzfeM's 
Gesch.  des  Vollen  Jisrael,  iii.  p.  183  ff.  Hamburger,  L'eal-Enci/cl./ür  Bibel 
u.  Talmud,  2nd  part,  arts.  "Morgengebet,"  "  Minchagebet,"  '-Abendgebet." 
2-*o  Tamid  vii.  fin.  Further,  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jud.  Heilif/th.  book  iv. 
chap.  V.  no.  25.  Herzfeld's  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Jisrael,  iii.  163  f.  Grätz,  Die 
Tempel  psalmen  {Monatsschr.  f.  Gesch.  n.  Wissens,  des  Judenlh.  1878,  pp. 
217-222).  Delitzsch's  Commentar  zu  den  P.^almen.  In  the  case  of  five  of 
the  psalms  here  in  question  the  Sept.  also  inserts  in  the  title  of  each  a  correct 
statement  of  the  particular  day  on  which  it  was  to  be  sung,  thus :  Ps.  xxiv. 
(xxiii.),  T'^;  y.ix;  (TaSSctTov  ;  xlviii.  (xlvii.),  oiVTipx  tjaßßuTov  ;  xciv.  (xciii.), 
TiTpxdi  (jec-ßßxrov  ;  xciii.  (xcii.),  si;  ryjii  i)i/,ipoct/  rov  'TrpoiycißßciL-ov,  ots  kxtu- 
KtoToci  '4  yi] ;  xcii.  (xci.),  il;  t'/jv  7ju,-pxv  rw  (jctßßcizov.  As  regards  the 
psalm  for  the  Sabbath,  the  statement  to  the  effect  that  it  was  the  one 
appointed  for  that  d;iy  has  forced  its  way  even  into  the  Masoretic  text.  It 
has  been  alleged  that  the  Jews  were  led  to  select  those  particulai-  psalms 
from  an  idea  that  they  presented  suitable  parallels  to  the  six  creative  days 
(see  llosh  ha.shana  xxxi.a  ;  So/tri)n  xviii.  1  ;  the  commentaries  of  Bar- 
tenora and  Maimonides  in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  vol.  v.  p.  310).  But  in  the 
majority  of  the  psalms  in  question  it  is  quite  impossible  to  discover  any 
such  parallelism.  This  view  has  obviously  been  suggested  by  the  circum- 
stance tliat  when  the  "station"  of  Israelites  assembled  in  the  synagogue  to 
read  a  portion  of  the  Scripture  (as  described  at  p.  275  f.  above),  it  was  so 
arranged  that  in  the  course  of  the  week  the  entire  account  of  the  creation 
should  be  read  through  consecutively  {Taanith  iv.  3:  On  the  finst  day  of 
the  week  they  read  the  account  of  the  first  and  second  days'  work  ;  on  the 
second  day  of  the  week,  that  of  the  second  and  third  days'  work,  and  so 
on).  Besides  the  psalms  for  the  different  days  of  the  week,  many  others, 
of  course,  were  used  in  the  services  of  the  temple  on  the  most  divers  occa- 
sions. Thus,  on  the  high  festival  days,  for  example,  the  so-called  llalhl  Avaa 
sung,  i.e.  according  to  the  ordinary  view,  Ps.  cxiii.-cxviii. ;  at  tlie  .same 
time  the  traditions  would  seem  to  be  somewhat  undecided  as  to  Avliat  we 
are  to  understand  by  the  llallcl  ;  see  Buxtorf's  Lex.  Chald.  col.  G13-Ü16 
(under  y?T\)-  Lightfoot's  Home  luhr.,  note  on  Luke  xiii.  35  (0/>//.  ii. 
p.  538  f.).  Lundius'  note  on  Taaniih  iii.  9  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  iL 
p.  377).  Grätz,  Monatsschr.  1879,  pp.  202  ff.,  241  ff.  Levy's  I^'euhcbr. 
Wörterb.  under  ^^n.  Hamburger,  Real- Encycl.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  Sod 
part,  art.  "  Hallcl." 


292         §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

already  delineated  with  so  much  fondness  by  the  son  of  Sirach 
(Sir.  1.  11-21).  A  very  circumstantial  account  o^  the  moriiing 
service,  founded  evidently  on  sound  tradition,  is  given  in  the 
Mislina  in  the  tractate  Tamid,  the  substance  of  which  may 
here  be  subjoined  by  way  of  supplement  to  what  we  have 
already  said.^^ 

The  officiating  priests  slept  in  a  room  in  the  inner  court. 
Early  in  the  morning,  even  before  daybreak,  the  official  who 
had  charge  of  the  lots  for  deciding  how  the  different  functions 
for  the  day  were  to  be  apportioned  came,  and,  in  the  first 
place,  caused  a  lot  to  be  drawn  to  determine  who  was  to  per- 
form the  duty  of  removing  the  ashes  from  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering.  Those  who  were  disposed  to  offer  themselves  for 
this  task  were  expected  to  have  taken  the  bath  prescribed  by 
the  law  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  above-mentioned  official. 
The  lots  were  then  drawn,  and  one  of  those  who  thus  presented 
themselves  was  in  this  way  told  off  to  perform  the  duty  in 
question.  This  person  then  set  to  work  at  once  while  it  was 
still  dark,  and  with  no  light  but  that  of  the  altar  fire.  The 
first  tiling  he  did  was  to  wash  his  hands  and  feet  in  the  brazen 
laver  that  stood  between  the  temple  and  the  altar,  after  which 
he  mounted  the  altar  and  carried  away  the  ashes  with  a  silver 
pan.  While  this  was  being  done,  those  whose  duty  it  was  to 
prepare  the  baked  meat-offering  (of  the  high  priest)  were  also 
busy  with  their  particular  function.^^^  Meanwhile  fresh  wood 
was  laid  upon  the  altar,  and,  while  this  was  burning,  the  priests, 
after  they  had  all  in  like  manner  washed  their  hands  and  feet 
in  the  brazen  laver,  went  up  to  the  lisclikath  ha-gasith  (on  this  see 

*""  The  tractate  in  question  is  to  be  found  in  Surenhusius'  3Iishia,  vol.  v. 
pp.  284-310  ;  and  in  Ugolini's  Thes.  vol.  xix.  col.  1467-1502.  The  principal 
pas.?ages  along  with  other  material  also  in  Ugolini's  Thes.  vol.  xiii.  942-1055. 
There  is  a  good  edition  of  the  tractate  by  itself  (and,  as  in  the  case  of  those 
already  mentioned,  also  furnished  with  a  Latin  translation  and  notes), 
under  the  title,  Tractatus  Talmudicus  de  cultu  quotidiano  templi,  quern  versione 
Latina  donatum  et  notis  ilhistratum  .  .  .  sub  praesidio  Dn.  Conradi  Ikenii 
jiatrin  sui  ,  .  ,  eruditorum  examini  subjicit  auctor  Conradus  Iken,  Braemae 
1736. 

"1  Tamkl  i.  1-4.     Comp.  Joma  i.  8,  ii.  1-2. 


§  24.    THE  rEIP:STIIOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOESHIP.      203 

p.  191,  above),  Avhere  the  further  drawing  of  the  lots  took 
place.'"^ 

The  official  who  had  charge  of  this  matter  then  caused  lots 
to  be  drawn  in  order  to  determine — (1)  who  was  to  slaughter 
the  victim  ;  (2)  who  was  to  sprinkle  the  blood  upon  the  altar ; 

(3)  who  was  to  remove  the  ashes  from  the  altar  of  incense ; 

(4)  who  was  to  trim  the  lamps  on  the  candlestick ;  further, 
who  were  to  carry  the  various  portions  of  tlie  victim  to  the 
foot  of  the  ascent  to  the  altar,  viz.  who  (5)  was  to  carry  the 
head  and  one  of  the  hind  legs ;  (6)  who  the  two  forelegs ; 
(7)  who  the  tail  and  the  other  hind  leg ;  (8)  who  the  breast 
and  the  neck;  (9)  who  the  two  sides;  (10)  who  the  entrails; 
(11)  who  the  offering  of  fine  flour;  (12)  who  the  baked  meat- 
offering (of  the  liigh  priest);  and  (13)  who  the  wine  for  the 
drink-offering.^^^  The  next  step  was  to  go  out  to  see  whether 
there  was  as  yet  any  symptom  of  daybreak.  Then  as  soon  as 
the  dawn  appeared  in  the  sky  they  proceeded  to  bring  a  lamb 
from  the  lamb-house  and  the  ninety-three  sacred  utensils  from 
the  utensil-room.  The  lamb  that  was  thus  to  form  the  victim 
had  now  some  water  given  to  it  from  a  golden  bowl,  where- 
upon it  was  led  away  to  the  slaughtering  place  on  the  north 
side  of  the  altar, ^""^  ]\Ieanwhile  the  two  whose  duty  it  was  to 
clean  the  altar  of  incense  and  trim  the  lamps  proceeded 
to  the  temple,  the  former  with  a  golden  pail  {"^p)  and  the 
latter  with  a  golden  bottle  (t^s).  They  opened  the  great 
door  of  the  temple,  went  in,  and  proceeded,  the  one  to  clean 
the  altar  of  incense,  and  the  other  to  trim  the  lamps.  In  the 
case  of  the  latter  however  the  arrangement  was,  that  if  the 
two  that  were  farthest  east  were  found  to  be  still  burning  they 
were  in  the  meantime  to  be  left  undisturbed,  and  only  the 
other  five  were  to  be  trimmed.  But  should  it  so  happen  that 
the  two  that  were  farthest  east  were  out,  then  they  were,  in 
the  first  place,  to  be  trimmed  and  relighted  before  the  trimming 
of  the  others  was  proceeded  with.     And  so  having  finished 

'^^^  Tamid  ii.  l-ö.  ^''^  Tainid  iii.  1  ;  Juma  ii.  3. 

2-'*  Tamid  iii.  2-5  ;  comp.  Joma  iii.  1-2. 


204  §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

their  task,  the  two  priests  now  retired,  but  they  left  behind 
them  in  the  temple  the  utensils  which  they  had  been  using.-"'^ 

While  the  two  just  referred  to  were  thus  occupied  within 
the  temple,  the  lamb  was  being  slaughtered  at  the  slaughtering 
place  by  the  priest  to  whose  lot  this  duty  had  fallen,  another 
at  the  same  time  catching  up  the  blood  and  sprinkling  it  upon 
the  altar.  The  victim  was  then  flayed  and  cut  up  into  a 
number  of  pieces.  The  entrails  were  washed  upon  marble 
tables  that  were  at  hand  for  the  purpose.  There  were  whole 
six  priests  appointed  to  carry  the  pieces  to  the  altar,  one  piece 
being  borne  by  each  priest.  Then  a  seventh  carried  the 
offering  of  fine  flour,  an  eighth  the  baked  meat-offering  (of  the 
high  priest),  and  a  oiinth  the  wine  for  the  drink-offering.  All 
the  things  here  mentioned  were  in  the  first  instance  laid  down 
on  the  west  side  of  the  ascent  to  the  altar  and  at  the  foot  of 
it,  and  then  seasoned  with  salt,  whereupon  the  priests  betook 
theiDselves  once  more  to  the  lischJcath  ha-gasith  for  the  purpose 
of  repeating  the  schma.^'^® 

After  they  had  repeated  the  schma,  the  lots  were  again 
drawn.  In  the  first  instance  they  were  drawn  among  those 
who  as  yet  had  not  been  called  upon  to  offer  up  incense  in 
order  to  determine  which  one  amongst  tliem  should  now  be 
entrusted  with  this  duty.^"'^  Then  another  was  drawn  to  deter- 
mine who  were  to  lay  the  various  parts  of  the  victim  upon  the 
altar  (which,  if  we  are  to  believe  Eabbi  Elieser  ben  Jacob,  was 

-5^  Tam'ul  iii.  6-9.  For  an  exposition  of  Tamid'in.  G,  comp,  further,  Giiitz, 
Monatsschr.  1880,  p.  2S'J  if. 

2.5C  Tamid  iv.  1-3.  For  the  place  where  the  pieces  were  laid  down,  see 
also  Shclallm  viii.  8.  According  to  Shekalim  vi.  4,  there  was  a  marble 
table  for  this  purpose  standing  on  the  west  side  of  the  ascent  to  the  altar.  On 
the  salting  of  the  pieces,  see  Lev.  ii.  18 ;  Ezek.  xliii.  24 ;  Joseph.  Antt.  iii.  9.  1. 

2^"  The  offering  of  the  incense  was  regarded  as  the  most  solemn  stage  in 
the  whole  sacrificial  act.  See  Philo,  De  victimis  offerentihus,  sec.  i  v.  (Mangey, 
ii.  254)  :  " Oau  yup,  oTf^oii,  "hlduv  yAv  df^ilvuv  y^pvrjo;,  Toi  ^i  tv  ocovtoi?  tuu 
iKTO;  üyiurapet,  toitovtu  x,psirrc-iv  Vj  oioe.  zuv  I'tt lÖv (/.i 6)f/Avo)i/  £t/;(;o£^<ffT/Ä 
Tsjj  S<«  Toou  ivxi/nuv.  Hence  it  was  while  they  were  offering  the  incense 
above  all  that  revelations  were  made  to  the  j^riests,  as  for  example  in  the 
case  of  John  Hyrcanus  (Joseph.  Aiitt.  xiii.  10.  3)  and  that  of  Zacharias 
(Luke  i.  9-20). 


§  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.       295 

done  by  tlie  same  priests  who  had  formerly  carried  tliem  to 
the  foot  of  the  altar).  Those  on  whom  no  lot  fell  upon  this 
occasion  were  now  free  to  go  away,  and  accordingly  they  took 
off  their  official  attire."^* 

The  priest  to  whose  lot  the  duty  of  offering  the  incense 
had  fallen  now  went  and  took  a  golden  saucer  (^3)  covered 
with  a  lid,  and  inside  of  which  again  there  was  a  smaller 
saucer  (^T3)  containing  the  incense.^"''  Another  priest  took  a 
silver  pan  (i^^no)^  and  with  it  brought  some  live  coal  from  the 
altar  of  burnt- offering  and  then  emptied  it  into  a  golden  pan.^^ 
This  being  done,  both  entered  the  temple  together.  The  one 
emptied  the  coals  that  were  in  his  pan  on  to  the  altar  of 
incense,  prostrated  himself  in  an  attitude  of  devotion,  and  then 
withdrew.  The  other  took  the  smaller  saucer  containing  the 
incense  out  of  the  larger  one,  then  handing  this  latter  to  a 
third  priest,  he  emptied  the  incense  out  of  the  saucer  on  to 
the  coals  upon  the  altar,  whereupon  it  ascended  in  clouds  of 
smoke.  This  being  done,  he,  like  the  other,  fell  down  in  an 
attitude  of  devotion,  and  then  left  the  temple.  But,  previous 
to  these  latter  having  entered,  the  two  who  had  charge  of  the 
cleaning  of  the  altar  of  incense  and  the  trimming  of  the 
lamps  had  also  come  back  and  entered  for  the  second  time, 
the  former  merely  to  bring  away  his  utensils  (the  VP),  the 
latter  in  like  manner  to  bring  away  his  (the  ns),  but  also  for 
the  additional  purpose  of  trimming  the  more  easterly  of  the 
two  lamps  that  had  not  yet  been  so ;  the  other  being  allowed 
still  to  burn  in  order  that  with  it  the  others  might  be  lighted 
in  the  evening.  If  it,  too,  happened  to  be  out,  then  it  was 
trimmed  like  the  others,  and  lighted  with  fire  taken  from  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering.*'^^ 

-'^  Tamid  v.  1-3.     Comp.  Joma  ii.  4-5. 

-'"  That  the  lid  belonged  to  the  T\-^  and  not  to  the  "^Ta  may  be  seen  from 
Tamid  vii.  2 ;  as  also  from  its  bcinj,'  assumed  that  possibly  some  of  the 
incense  might  fall  from  the  "]t3  when  it  was  full  into  the  :^3,  Tamid  vi.  8. 

2"''  Tumid  V.  4-5.  On  the  gold  and  silver  pan,  as  well  as  the  incense 
itself,  comp,  further  Joma  iv.  4. 

2"'   Tamid  vi.    l-o.     According   to    this  account   from  the  Miohua,  it 


296  §  2i.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSHIP. 

The  five  priests  who  had  been  thus  occupied  inside  the 
sanctuary  now  proceeded  with  their  five  golden  utensils  in 
their  hands  to  the  steps  in  front  of  the  temple,  and  there 
pronounced  the  priestly  benediction  over  the  people,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  name  of  God  was  pronounced  as  it  spells 
(therefore  n"in%  not  •'Jinx)-^^^ 

And  now,  at  this  point,  the  offering  of  the  burnt-offering 
was  proceeded  with,  the  priests  who  had  been  appointed  to 
this  duty  taking  up  the  portions  of  the  victim  that  lay  at  the 
foot  of  the  ascent  to  the  altar,  and  after  placing  their  hands 
upon  them,  throwing  them  on  to  the  altar.^®^  In  those  cases 
in  which  the  high  priest  officiated,  he  caused  the  pieces  to  be 
given  to  him  by  the  ordinary  priests,  and  then  placing  his 
hands  upon  them  he  threw  them  on  to  the  altar.  And  now, 
in  the  last  place,  the  two  meat-offerings  (that  of  the  people 
and  that  of  the  high  priest)  and  the  drink-offering  were  pre- 
sented. When  the  priest  was  bending  forward  to  pour  out 
the  drink-offering  a  signal  was  given  to  the  Levites  to  proceed 
with  the  music.  They  accordingly  broke  in  with  the  singing 
of  the  psalm,  and  at  every  pause  in  the  music  two  priests 
blew  with  silver  trumpets,  and  every  time  they  blew  the 
people  all  fell  down  and  prayed,^^'* 

appears  that  only  one,  of  the  seven  lamps  of  the  candlestick  was  kept  burning 
during  the  day,  and  that  the  middle  one  of  the  three  on  the  east  side. 
According,  on  the  other  hand,  to  what  must  be  regarded  as  the  more 
important  testimony  of  Josephus,  it  was  usual  to  have  three  lamps  burning 
in  the  day-time;  see  p.  281,  above.  On  the  whole  controversy  as  to  which 
and  how  many  lauips  burnt  during  the  day,  see  also  Iken,  Tractatus  Tal- 
mudlciis  de  culiii  quolidiano  templi  (1736),  pp.  73-76,  107  f. 

262   Tamid  vii.  2. 

2C3  The  throwing  required  a  special  dexterity  on  the  part  of  the  priests, 
a  dexterity  of  which  Pstudo-Aristeas  already  speaks  in  terms  of  admiration 
(Havercamp's  Josephus,  ii.  2.  112  ;  Merx'  Arcliia,  i.  271). 

2''*  Tumid  vii.  3.  Towards  tiie  close  this  tractate  becomes  somewhat  less 
detailed.  It  only  describes  the  mode  of  oifering  the  sacrifice  in  those  cases 
in  which  the  high  priest  himself  officiated.  Besides,  the  offering  of  the  two 
meat-offerings  is  not  expressly  mentioned.  That  we  have  inserted  them  in 
their  proper  place  it  is  impossible  to  doubt,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
order  in  which  they  are  introduced  elsewhere  (  Tamid  iii.  1,  iw.  fin.).  Con- 
eequently,  the  meat-offering  of  the  high  priest  was  not  offered  before  that 


§  2J.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSIIIP.         297 

The  evening  service  was  exactly  similar  to  the  morning  one, 
which  has  just  been  described.  The  only  difference  was  that 
in  the  former  the  incense  was  offered  after  the  burnt-offering 
instead  of  before  it,  while  in  the  evening  again  the  lamps 
were  not  trimmed,  but  simply  lighted  (see  p.  290  f.  above). 

Those  two  daily  public  sacrifices  formed  the  substratum  of 
the  entire  worship  of  the  temple.  They  were  also  offered,  and 
that  in  the  manner  we  have  described,  on  everij  Sabbath  and 
every  festival  day.  But  with  the  view  of  distinguishing 
them  above  ordinary  occasions,  it  was  the  practice  on  those 
days  to  add  further  public  offerings  to  the  ordinary  tamid. 
The  addition  on  the  Sabbath  consisted  of  two  male  lambs 
of  a  year  old,  which  were  offered  as  a  burnt  -  offering 
along  with  two-tenths  of  an  ephah  of  fine  flour  as  a  meat- 
offering, and  a  corresponding  amount  of  wine  as  a  drink- 
offering.  Consequently  the  sacrifices  offered  at  a  single 
service  on  the  Saljbath  would  be  exactly  equivalent  to  the 
daily  morning  and  evening  sacrifices  put  together.^'^  On 
festival  days  again  the  additional  offerings  were  on  a  still 
more  extensive  scale.  On  the  occasion  of  the  feast  of  tlie 
Passover,  for  example,  there  were  offered  as  a  burnt-offering, 
and  that  daily  during  the  whole  seven  days  over  which  the 
festival  extended,  two  young  bullocks,  a  ram,  and  seven 
lambs,  along  with  the  corresponding  meat-  and  drink-offerings, 
and  in  addition  to  all  this,  a  he-goat  as  a  sin-offering  (Xum, 
xxviii.  16-25) ;  and  on  t\iQ  feast  of  Weelcs  a,g9A\\,  which  lasted 

of  the  people,  as  Heb.  vii.  27  miijht  lead  us  to  suppose,  but  after  it.     See 
also  Lundius,  Die  alt.  jiid.  Heilicjtii.  book  iii.  chap,  xxxix.  no.  58. 

265  Num.  xxviii.  9, 10.  Philo,  De  victhnis,  sec.  iii.  (Mang.  ii.  2;39)  :  T«/,-  Is 
ißhöfixi;  OiTTÄai/ii^f/  tov  tZv  'aptiuv  ecpi6y,6v.  Joscpli.  .1?///.  iii.  10.  1  . 
KX.roi  Oi  ißoöfiYiu  ijfiipctv,  7;ti;  ncc-ißcCTX  Kct'KÜTXt,  Ovo  aJ)»^ov>n,  röv  otinör 
TBonvüv  lepovpyovvTic.  The  pixsciiptions  in  Ezck.  xlvi.  4,  5  are  essentially 
different  from  this.  But  the  main  difference  between  pre-  and  post- 
exilic  times,  as  regards  both  the  festival  sacrifices  and  the  tamid  alike, 
lay  in  this,  that  j>revious  to  the  exile  the  king  was  called  upon  to  defray  ihe 
cost  of  them,  whereas  after  the  exile  they  were  provided  at  the  expense  of 
the  people  thcmselrei^.  See  in  particular,  Ezek.  xlv.  17 ;  and  in  general, 
Ezek.  xlv.  18,  xlvi.  15.  For  an  account  of  the  form  of  worship  observed  on 
the  Sabbath,  see  Lundius,  Dk  alt.  jiid.  Ileiligth.  book  v.  chap.  v. 


298         §  24.    THE  PKIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP, 

only  one  day,  there  were  offered  the  same  sacrifices  as  on 
each  of  the  seven  days  of  the  feast  of  the  Passover  (Num. 
xxviii.  26-31).  Then  on  the  occasion  of  the  feast  of  Taber- 
nacles, which,  as  being  the  festival  that  took  place  when  the 
harvest  was  over,  would  naturally  be  celebrated  with  special 
tokens  of  thankfulness,  the  number  of  sacrifices  was  much 
greater  still.  On  the  first  day  of  this  feast  there  were  offered, 
as  a  burnt-offering,  thirteen  young  bullocks,  two  rams,  and 
fourteen  lambs,  along  with  the  corresponding  meat-  and  drink- 
offerings,  and  over  and  above  all  this  a  he-goat  as  a  sin- 
offering  ;  while  on  each  of  the  six  following  festival  days,  all 
those  sacrifices  were  repeated,  with  this  difference,  that  every 
day  there  was  one  bullock  fewer  than  on  the  preceding  day 
(Num.  xxix.  12-34).  Similar  supplementary  sacrifices  and 
offerings,  at  one  time  on  a  larger  at  another  on  a  smaller 
scale,  were  also  prescribed  for  the  other  festivals  (the  new 
moon,  the  new  year,  and  the  great  day  of  atonement)  that 
occurred  in  the  course  of  the  year  (see  in  general,  Num. 
xxviii.-xxix.).  Then  to  those  sacrifices  which  merely 
served  to  indicate  in  a  general  way  the  festive  character  of 
the  occasions  on  which  they  were  offered,  there  were  further 
added  those  special  ones  that  had  reference  to  the  peculiar 
significance  of  the  feast  (on  this  see  Lev.  xvi.  and  xxiii.). 

But  copious  as  those  public  sacrifices  no  doubt  were,  they 
still  seem  but  few  when  compared  with  the  multitudes  of 
2orivate  offerings  and  sacrifices  that  were  offered.  It  was  the 
vast  number  of  these  latter — so  vast  in  fact  as  to  be  well-nigh 
inconceivable — that  gave  its  peculiar  stamp  to  the  worship  at 
Jerusalem.  Here  day  after  day  whole  crowds  of  victims 
were  slaughtered  and  whole  masses  of  flesh  burnt ;  and  when 
any  of  the  high  festivals  came  round,  there  was  such  a  host 
of  sacrifices  to  dispose  of  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  attend 
to  them  all  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there  were  thousands 
of  priests  officiating  on  the  occasion,'^''     But  the  people  of 

266  Aristeas  (in  Havercamp's  Joseplius,  ii.  2.  112.    Merx'  Archiv,  i.  27G. 
5,  C)  :    TloAT.««   yocp  fivpiocos;  ktyjvuv   -T^-poaa.yovru.i   y.aroi  roig  ruv  sopruu 


§  24.    THE  PPJESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WOKSIIIP.        299 

Israel  saw  in  the  punctilious  observance  of  this  worship  the 
principal  means  of  securing  for  themselves  the  favour  of  their 
God. 


APPENDIX. 

PARTICIPATION  OF  GENTILES  IX  THE  W'ORSHIP  AT  .lEnU.SALKM. 

Considering  the  wall  of  rigid  separation  which,  as  regards 
matters  of  religion,  the  Jews  had  erected  between  themselves 
and  the  Gentiles,  it  would  not  readily  occur  to  one  that  these 
latter  were  also  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  worship  at 
Jerusalem,  And  yet  that  such  was  the  case  is  a  fact  as  well 
authenticated  as  any  fact  could  be.  Nor  are  we  thinking  here 
of  the  large  body  of  proselytes,  i.e.  of  those  Gentiles  who,  to  some 
extent,  professed  their  adherence  to  the  faith  of  Israel,  and  who 
on  this  account  testified  their  reverence  for  Israel's  God  by 
sacrificing  to  Him.  No,  we  have  in  view  such  as  were  real 
Gentiles,  and  who,  in  sacrificing  at  Jerusalem,  would  by  no 
means  care  to  acknowledge  that  in  so  doing  they  were  pro- 
fessing their  belief  in  the  sujjcrsfitio  Jiulaica.  There  is  how- 
ever but  one  way  of  understanding  this  singular  fact,  and 
that  is  by  reflecting  how  formal  and  superficial  the  connection 
often  is,  in  [»ractical  life,  between  faith  and  worship, — a  con- 
nection that  originally  was  of  so  very  intimate  a  character, — 
and  also  how  this  was  peculiarly  the  case  at  the  period  now 
in  question.  The  presenting  of  a  sacrifice  with  a  view  to  its 
being  offered  in  some  famous  sanctuary  was  very  often  mitliing 
more  than  an  expression,  on  the  part  of  the  offerer,  of  a 
cosmopolitan    piety,  nay,   in    many    instances  a  mere  act  of 

r,u.ipx;.  Philo,  Vita  Mosis,  iii.  19,  /'///.;  rtoXXii»  os  kxt*  to  ä.j»yx.ottr,» 
di-jX'/of/Avuu  6v(riiii/  x.»6'  SKoiarYi»  ijuipx-j,  kxI  <)ixj:ipö'^zu;  iv  -zetvnyiipiai  y.»l 
koor*(;  C-TTip  ri  ioi'cc  SKccarov  k*1  x.on'f,  v-zio  »—ccviuv  O/as  fAvpix;  Kctl  ov-^t  rü; 
eevTu.;  »iriai  k.t.X.  Comp,  the  miinbers  given  in  1  Kings  viii.  G3  ; 
1  Chron.  xxix.  21  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  o2  f.,  xxx.  2t.  xxxv.  7-9. 


300         §  21.    THE  PrJESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

courtesy  toward  a  particular  people  or  a  particular  city,  and 
not  in  the  least  intended  to  be  regarded  as  indicating  the 
man's  religious  creed.  And  if  this  was  a  thing  that  occurred 
in  the  case  of  famous  sanctuaries  elsewhere,  why  should  it  not 
take  place  at  Jerusalem  as  well  ?  There  was  no  reason  why 
the  Jewish  people  and  their  priests  should  discountenance  an 
act  intended  to  do  honour  to  their  God,  even  though  it  were 
purely  an  act  of  politeness.  As  for  the  offering  of  the 
sacrifice,  that  was  really  the  priests'  affair ;  it  was  for  them  to 
see  that  this  was  gone  about  in  proper  and  due  form.  And  if 
the  sacrifice  were  provided,  there  did  not  seem  to  be  any 
particular  reason  for  caring  at  whose  expense  it  was  so.  In 
any  case  the  Jew  was  not  called  upon,  through  any  religious 
scruple,  to  decline  a  gift  of  this  nature  even  from  one  who  did 
not  otherwise  yield  obedience  to  the  law.  And  accordingly 
we  find  the  Old  Testament  itself  proceeding  on  the  assumption 
that  a  sacrifice  might  be  legitimately  offered  even  by  a  Gentile 
0^?.  I?)-"^^  And  so  the  Judaism  of  later  times  has  also 
carefnlly  specified  what  kinds  of  sacrifices  might  be  accepted 
from  a  Gentile  and  what  might  not :  for  example,  all  were  to 
be  accepted  that  were  offered  in  consequence  of  a  vow  or  as 
freewill  offerings  (all  ^''Ti^  and  ri^^'^3) ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  those  of  an  obligatory  character,  such  as  sin-offerings, 
trespass-offerings,  and  those  presented  by  those  who  had  issues, 
and  by  women  after  child-birth  and  such  like,  could  not  be 
offered  by  Gentiles.^^®  The  offerings  therefore  which  these 
latter  were  permitted  to  present  were  burnt-offerings,  meat- 
offerings, and  drink-offerings.^^^  Hence  it  is,  that  in  enumerat- 
ing the  special  legal  prescriptions  relating  to  offerings,  there 

26^  Lev.  xxii.  25  and  Dillmann's  note.  It  is  here  stated  that  it  would  be 
unlawful  to  take  blemished  animals  for  victims  even  from  a  Gentile,  which 
pre-npposes,  of  course,  that,  generally  speaking,  Gentiles  might  lawfully 
present  sacrifices.  ^^^  Shckalim  i.  5. 

2^^  Thank-  or  peace-offerings  they  were  debarred  from  presenting,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  they  would  not  possess  the  Levitical  purity  required  of 
those  who,  in  this  instance,  partook  of  the  flesh  of  the  victims  at  the 
sacrificial  feast  (Lev.  vii.  20,  21). 


§  21.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHU'.         301 

is  frequently  a  reference,  at  the  same  time,  to  tlie  sacrifices  of 
the  Gentiles  as  well.'"^'* 

The  general  fact,  that  sacrifices  were  offered  by  and  in  the 
name  of  Gentiles,  is  one  that  is  vouched  for  in  the  most  explicit 
way  possible  Ijy  Josephus,  who  informs  us  that  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution  in  the  year  G  a.D., 
precisely  one  of  the  first  things  done  was  to  pass  a  resolution 
declaring  that  it  was  no  longer  lawful  to  take  sacrifices  from 
Gentiles.''^  By  way  of  protesting  against  such  a  proceeding, 
the  opposite  conservative  party  took  care  to  point  out  that 
"  all  their  forefathers  had  been  in  the  habit  of  receivinü  sacri- 
fices  at  the  hands  of  Gentiles  ; "  and  that  if  the  Jews  were 
to  be  the  only  people  among  whom  a  foreigner  was  not  to  Ije 
allowed  to  sacrifice,  then  Jerusalem  would  incur  the  reproach 
of  being  an  ungodly  city,^'"'  History  records  at  least  several 
remarkable  instances  of  the  matter  now  in  question.  "When 
we  are  told,  for  example,  that  Alexander  the  Great  once 
sacrificed  at  Jerusalem,"'^^  the  truth  of  this  fact  no  doubt 
depends  on  how  far  it  is  historically  true  that  this  monarch 
ever  visited  that  city  at  all.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  the 
simple  fact  of  such  a  thing  being  even  recorded  goes  to  prove 
that  Judaism  looked  upon  such  a  proceeding  as  perfectly  legiti- 
mate and  proper.  Then  Plolcmacus  III.  is  likewise  alleged  to 
have  offered  sacrifices  at  Jerusalem.'"^*  Again,  Antiochiis  VII. 
(Sidetes),  while  he  was  at  open  feud  with  the  Jews  and  was  in 
the  very  act  of  besieging  Jerusalem,  went  so  far  as,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  feast  of  Tabernacles,  to  send  sacrifices  into  tlie 
city,  presumably  with  the  view  of  disposing  the  God  of  the 
enemy  in  his  favour,  while  the  Jews  on  their  part  cordially 

^''^  Shekalim  vii.  6  ;  Schachim  iv.  5  ;  Menachoth  v.  3,  h,  6,  vi.  1,  ix.  8. 
Comp,  further,  Haml)urger'8  Rcal-Encycl.  für  Bibd  u.  Talmud,  2nd  part, 
art.  "  Opfer  der  Heiden." 

271  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  2-4. 

2' 2  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  4:  ort  von/ng  o/  'Trpöyoi/oi  rxi  «tto  rciiv  oi'K>.o'yivü» 
6vat»g  scvioixofro.  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  17.  3  :  x.aroiy^nZiax'jB*!  rii;  tzoK'.u;  doiiltixv, 
ii  77ap*  fAÖvot;    lovoxioi;  uvn  dvon  ri;  «AXorp/oj  oun  TrpooKVutian. 

^'^  Joseph.  Antt.  xi.  8.  5.  ^r*  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  ii.  5,  init. 


302        5  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

welcomed  the  sacrifices  as  a  token  of  the  king's  sympathy 
with  their  faith.'"'"^  Further,  wlien  Marcus  Agrippa,  the  dis- 
tinguished patron  of  Herod,  came  to  Jerusalem  in  the  year 
15  B.c.,  he  there  sacrificed  a  hecatomb,  consequently  a  burnt- 
offering  consisting  of  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  oxen.^'"  Once 
more,  Josephus  tells  us  with  regard  to  Vitellius,  that  he  came 
to  Jerusalem  at  the  Passover  season  in  the  year  37  A.D.,  for 
the  purpose  of  offering  sacrifice  to  God."''^  How  frequent 
such  acts  of  courtesy  or  cosmopolitan  piety  were  may  be 
further  seen  from  the  circumstance  that  Augustus  expressly 
commended  his  grandson  Caius  Caesar,  because  on  his  way 
from  Egypt  to  Syria  he  did  not  stay  to  worship  in  Jeru- 
salem.^'^^  TertuUian  is  therefore  perfectly  justified  in  saying 
that  once  upon  a  time  the  Romans  had  even  honoured  the 
God  of  the  Jews  by  offering  Him  sacrifice,  and  their  temple 
by  bestowing  presents  upon  it.^'^  Nor  are  we  to  suppose  that 
it  is  merely  proselytes  that  are  in  view  when  Josephus 
describes  the  altar  at  Jerusalem  as  "  the  altar  venerated  by 
all  Greeks  and  barbarians,"  '^^  and  says  of  the  place  on  which 
the  temple  stood,  that  it  "  is  adored  by  the  whole  world,  and 
for  its  renown  is  honoured  among  strangers  at  the  ends  of  the 
earth." -«1 

In  the  class  of  sacrifices  offered  for  and  in  the  name  of 
Gentiles  should  also  be  included  the  sacrifice,  for  the  Gentile 
authorities.  As  previous  to  the  exile  the  Israelitish  kings 
were  in  the  habit  of  defraying  the  cost  of  the  public  sacrifices, 

2's  Ann.  xiii.  8.  2. 

2''6  Anit.  xvi.  2.  1.  Sacrifices  on  so  large  a  scale  as  this  were  nothing 
unusual  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  See  Ezra  vi.  17.  Philo,  Legat,  ad 
Cajum,  sec.  xlv.  (Mang.  ii.  598).     Orac.  Sihijll.  iii.  576,  626. 

2'"''  Antt.  xviii.  5.  3. 

^'■^  Sueton,  AiKjust.  cap.  xeiii. :  Gajum  nepotem,  quod  Judaeam  prae- 
tervehens  apnd  Hierosolyma  nou  supplicasset,  coiilaudavit. 

-'•^  TertuUian,  Apolof/ct.  cap.  xxvi. :  Cujus  (Judaeae)  et  deura  victimis  et 
templum  douis  et  gentem  foederibus  aliquamdiu  Roraani  honorastis. 

-^•^  Bell.  Jud.  V.  1.  3:   TOu"^'h'hmt  i^äiai  Kot,l  ßxpß/ipot;  asj3oia,u,iov  ßojfiov. 

2**^  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  4.  3  (ed.  Bekker,  v.  315.  2-4) :  6  ös  :/x()  tjjj-  oUov^uivn; 


§  21.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        303 

SO  Cyrus  iu  like  manner  is  said  to  have  given  orders  that 
whatever  means  and  materials  might  he  required  for  this 
purpose  should  he  furnished  out  of  the  royal  excliequer,  at 
the  same  time  however  with  the  view  of  prayer  heing  offered 
"  for  the  life  of  the  king  and  his  sons  "  (Ezra  vi.  1 0).  The 
fact  of  a  sacrifice  being  specially  offered  in  behalf  of  the 
sovereign  (oXo/cai^Tfoo-i?  TrpoacjiepofMevr}  virep  rod  /^acriXetw?)  is 
further  confirmed  by  still  more  explicit  testimony  belonging 
to  the  time  of  the  Maccabaean  movement  (1  Mace.  vii.  38). 
Consequently  we  see  that  even  then,  at  a  time  when  a  great 
proportion  of  the  people  was  waging  war  with  the  king  of 
Syria,  the  priests  were  still  conscientiously  offering  the  sacri- 
fice that,  as  we  may  venture  to  suppose,  had  been  founded  by 
the  Syrian  kings  themselves.  In  the  Roman  period  again 
lliis  sacrifice,  offered  on  behalf  of  the  C! entile  authorities,  was 
precisely  the  only  possible  form  under  which  Judaism  could 
i'urnish  something  like  an  equivalent  for  that  worship  of  the 
emperor  and  of  Rome  that  went  on  througliout  all  the  other 
provinces.  We  learn  indeed  from  the  explicit  testimony  of 
Philo,  that  Augustus  himself  ordained  that,  in  ail  time  coming, 
two  lambs  and  a  bullock  were  to  be  sacrificed  every  day  at 
the  emperor'' s  expense. '^^^  It  was  to  this  sacrifice  offered  "in 
hehalf  of  the  emperor  aud  the  Human  2^coplc  "  that  the  Jews 
expressly  pointed  in  the  time  of  Caligula,  when  their  loyalty 
happened  to  be  called  in  (question  in  consequence  of  their 
having  opposed  the  erection  of  the  emperor's  statue  in  the 
temple.^^^      And  we  are   fuitlier  informed  that  it  continued  to 

•-'32  I'hilo,  Lrcj.  ad  ('(ijinit.acv.  xxni.  (ctl.  Mang.  ii.  509)  :  ■rrcoa-a.^u.i  y.xl  oi 
»luvo;  oLvxyiadai  Svaix;  iuOiÄ:)c-i>  o'^okociitov^  Kee6'  'sy,»(rrr,v  i}f*ipecv  tK  ru» 
loiuv  'JTpooöoCßiv,  cc77utiy,y,y  ru  ii\^i<jru  tfrti,  u'i  kocI  i^i-/,oi  rou  vvv  i'^TiTt'Aov-yTui  kui 
ii;  »-»V  eTTiTi'Aiaf/iaovru.i.  lie  also  uscs  terms  almost  identical  M'ith  these 
in  sec.  xl.,  ed.  M.ang.  ii.  592,  where  however  he  adds  the  remark,  that  üputs 
iiai  ovo  y,a,l  Txupoi  tcc  i-oslx,  oi;  Kei77Uo  l(pfihpvvs  [1.  i^riovvi^  tov  ßuf^o'j. 

-^"*  Joseph.  BcU.  Jud.  ii.  10.  4:  'lovcxiot  vtpt  f^iv  Kxiaxpo;  kxI  rot> 
07)/:iov  ruu  Vuy,xiay  olg  rii;  ii,uiox;  dvnu  'ijuaxu.  From  the  conclusion 
of  this  sentence  we  see  that,  like  the  public  sacrifices,  the  daily  sacrifice 
for  the  emperor  was  also  ofTeri'<l  partly  in  the  morniiuj  and  partly  in  the 
tvcniiKj. 


304        §  24.    THE  PRIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP. 

be  regularly  offered  clown  till  the  time  when  the  revolution 
broke  out  in  the  year  66  a.d.^^*  Then  we  have  it,  on  the 
authority  of  Philo,  that  it  was  not  merely  a  sacrifice  for  the 
emperor,  but  one  that  had  been  also  instituted  &?/  l^ioi ;  a  step 
which,  in  spite  of  his  strong  antipathy  to  Judaism,  Augustus 
would  probably  deem  it  prudent  to  take  from  political  con- 
siderations. It  is  true,  no  doubt,  that  Josephus  af&rms  that 
the  expenses  connected  with  the  sacrifice  now  in  question  were 
defrayed  by  the  Jewish  people  them  sei  ves.^^'*  Possibly  how- 
ever this  historian  himself  was  not  at  the  time  aware  that  the 
money  to  pay  for  the  sacrifice  came  actually  from  the  emperor. 
At  the  same  time  it  would  appear  that,  on  special  occasions, 
very  large  sacrifices  were  offered  in  behalf  of  the  emperor  at 
the  public  expense  ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  time  of  Caligula, 
when  a  hecatomb  was  offered  on  each  of  three  different 
occasions,  first  on  the  occasion  of  that  emperor's  accession  to 
the  throne,  then  on  that  of  his  recovery  from  a  serious  illness, 
and     lastly     at     the     commencement     of    his    campaign    in 

rf  286 

Germany. 

Besides  offering  sacrifices,  it  was  also  very  common  for 
Gentiles  to  bestow  gifts  upon  the  temple  at  Jerusalem. 
Pseudo-Aristeas,  for  example,  gives  a  very  minute  account  of 
the  splendid  presents  winch  Ptolemaeus  Philadelphus  gave  to 

284  B^ii  Jud.  ii.  17.  2-4. 

285  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  ii.  6,  ßn. :  Faciinus  autem  pro  eis  (seil, 
imperatoribus  et  populo  Eomano)  continua  sacrlficia  ;  et  non  solum 
quotidianis  diebus  ex  impensa  comniuni  omnium  Judaeorum  talia  cele- 
bramus,  verum  quum  nullas  alias  liostias  ex  communi  neque  pro  filiis 
peragamus,  solis  imperatoribus  hunc  honorem  praecipuum  pariter  exhibemus, 
quem  hominum  nuUi  persolvimus. 

286  Philo,  Legat,  ad  Cajiim,  sec.  xlv.  (ed.  Mang.  ii.  598).  Sacrifice  and 
prayer  in  behalf  of  the  Gentile  authorities  is  recommended  generally  in 
Jer.  xxix.  7;  Bar.  i.  10,  11.  Ahoth  iii.  2:  "Kabbi  Chananiah,  president 
of  the  priests,  said  :  Pray  for  the  welfare  of  the  higher  authorities  "  (n"l3^D 
meaning  here  the  Gentile  authorities).  For  the  Christian  practice,  comp. 
1  Tim.  ii.  1,  2.  Clemens  Romanus,  Ixi. ;  and  in  addition,  the  material  collected 
by  Haruack  (Patriim  apostol.  opp.  i.  1,  ed.  2,  1876,  p.  103  f.).  Mangold,  De 
ecclesia  iirimaeva  pro  Caesarihus  ac  nuKjistratihus  llomanis  prcces  fundente^ 
188L 


§  24.    THE  PEIESTHOOD  AND  THE  TEMPLE  WORSHIP.        305 

the  temple  on  the  occasion  of  his  requesting  the  Jewish  high 
priest  to  send  him  a  number  of  persons  who  would  be 
sufficiently  competent  to  take  part  in  a  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  into  Greek,  the  articles  presented  being  twenty 
golden  and  thirty  silver  cups,  five  goblets,  and  a  golden  table 
of  elaborate  workmanship.^*^  Although  this  story  may  belong 
to  the  realm  of  the  legendary,  still  it  may  be  regarded  as 
faithfully  reflecting  the  practice  of  the  time.  For,  apart  from 
this,  we  have  it  vouched  for  elsewhere  over  and  over  again 
that  the  Ptolemies  frequently  gave  presents  to  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem.^**  Nor  was  it  different  in  the  Eoman  period. 
When  Sosius,  in  conjunction  with  Herod,  had  suceeded  in 
conquering  Jerusalem,  he  presented  a  golden  crown."*^  Marcus 
Agrippa  too,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Jerusalem  to 
which  we  have  already  referred,  presented  gifts  for  the  further 
embellishment  of  the  temple.'^  Among  the  vessels  of  the  temple 
which  John  of  Gischala  caused  to  be  melted  during  the  siege 
were  the  wine  goblets  {dKpaTO(f)6poc)  that  had  been  presented 
by  Augustus  and  his  consort."^^  Altogether  it  was  not  in  the 
least  unusual  for  Eomans  to  dedicate  gifts  to  the  temple."^^ 
And  so,  strange  to  say,  in  this  way  even  the  exclusive  temple 
of  Jerusalem  became  in  a  certain  sense  cosmopolitan ;  it  too 
received  the  homage  of  the  whole  world  in  common  with  the 
more  celebrated  sanctuaries  of  heathendom. 

287  Pseudo-Aristeas  in  Havercamp's  edition  of  Josephus,  ii.  2.  108-111 
(also  in  Merx'  Archiv^  i.  262-269)  ;  in  the  citation  as  given  in  Antt.  xiii. 
3.  4  ;  contra  Apion.  ii.  5,  init. 

288  2  Mace.  iii.  2,  v.  16.  Joseph.  Anlt.  xiii.  3.  4  ;  contra  Apion.  ii.  5, 
init. 

280  Antt.  xiv.  16.  4. 

290  Philo,  Legat,  ad  Cajum,  sec.  xxxvii.,  ed.  Mang.  ii.  589. 

291  Bell.  Jud.  V.  13.  6.  Comp.  Philo,  Legat,  ad  Cajum,  sec.  xxiii.,  ed. 
Mang.  ii.  569. 

292  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  3.  10  (ßekker,  v.  305.  20  f.).     Comp.  ü.  17.  3. 


DIV.  II.  VOL.  L 


§  25.   SCRIBISM. 
L    CANONICAL  DIGNITY  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE.' 

The  fact  most  essentially  conclusive  for  the  religious  life  of 

the  Jewish  people   during  the  period  under  consideration  is, 

that   the   law,  which  regulated  not  only  the  i3riestly  service 

but  the  whole  life  of  the  people  in  their  religious,  moral  and 

social  relations,  was  acknowledged  as  given  by  God  Himself. 

Its  every  requirement  was  a  requirement  of  God   from   His 

people,  its  most  scrupulous  observance  was  therefore  a  religious 

duty,  nay  the   supreme  and  in  truth  the  sole  religious  duty. 

The    whole  piety  of  the  Israelite   consisted  in  obeying  with 

fear  and  trembling,  with  all  the  zeal  of  an  anxious  conscience, 

the  law  given  him  by  God  in  all  its  particulars.      Hence  the 

specific  character  of  Israelitish  piety  during  this  period  depends 

on  the  acknowledgment  of  this  dignity  of  the  law. 

The    age    of    this    acknowledgment    may    be    determined 

almost  to  the  day  and  hour.      It  dates  from  that  important 

occurrence,  whose  epoch-making  importance  is  duly  brought 

forward  in  the  Book  of  Nehemiah,  the  reading  of  the  law  by 

Ezra,  and  the  solemn  engagement  of  the  people  to  observe  it 

(iSTeh.    viii.-x.).       The    law,   which   was   then  read,  was    the 

Pentateuch  in  essentially  the  same  form  as  we  now  have  it. 

Isolated  passages  may  have  been  subsequently  interpolated, 

but  with   respect  to   the  main  substance,  these  need  not  be 

taken  account  of.     Henceforward   then  the  laiv  given  ly  God 

through  Moses  was  acknoiüledged  hy  the  peo^ple  as  the  hinding  ride 

of  life,  i.e.  as  canonical.     For  it  is  in  the  very  nature  of  the 

*  See  the  literature  on  the  history  of  the  Old  Test,  canon  in  Strack,  art. 
"Kanon  des  A.  T.,"  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl.  vol.  vii.  2nd  ed.  (1880) 
p.  450  sq. ;  and  in  Schmiedel,  art.  "  Kanon,"  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  .4ZZ(7C??i. 
Encyclopädie,  §  2,  vol.  xxxii.  (1882)  p.  335  sq. 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  307 

law  that  its  acceptance  eo  ipso  involves  the  acknowledgment 
of  its  binding  and  normative  dignity."  Hence  this  acknow- 
ledgment was  from  that  time  onwards  a  self-evident  assump- 
tion to  every  Israelite.  It  was  the  condition  without  which 
no  one  was  a  member  of  the  chosen  people,  or  could  have  a 
share  in  the  promises  given  to  tliem.  "  He  who  asserts  that 
the  Thorah  is  not  from  heaven  (d^dcti  p  min  px),  has  no  part  in 
the  future  world."  ^^  It  is  however  in  the  nature  of  the  thing 
that  this  notion  should,  as  time  went  on,  be  held  with  increas- 
ing strictness  and  severity.  While  its  original  meaning  was 
only  that  the  commands  of  the  law  were  in  their  entirety  and 
in  their  details  the  commands  of  God,  the  assumption  of  a 
divine  origin  was  gradually  referred  to  the  entire  Pentateuch 
according  to  its  whole  wording.  "  He  who  says  that  Moses 
wrote  even  one  verse  of  his  own  knowledge  O^VV  ''S^)  is  a 
denier  and  despiser  of  the  word  of  God."  *  The  whole  Penta- 
teuch was  thus  now  regarded  as  dictated  by  God,  as  prompted 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.*  Even  the  last  eight  verses  of  Deutero- 
nomy, in  wliich  the  death  of  Moses  is  related,  were  said  to 
have  been  written  by  Moses  himself  by  means  of  divine 
revelation.''  Nay  at  last,  the  view  of  a  divine  dictation  was 
no  longer  suthcient.  The  complete  book  of  the  law  was 
declared  to  have  been  handed  to  Moses  by  God,  and  it  was 
only  disputed,  whether  God  delivered  the  whole  Thorah  to 
Moses  at  once  or  by  volumes  (p}i^  '^i^^)-^ 

After  the  law  and  as  an  addition  to  it,  certain  other  writings 
of  Israelite  antiquity,  tke  writings  of  the  prophets  and  worlcs  on 
the  older   (pre-e.Kilian)  history  of   Israel,  attained  to    similar 

^  Comp.  Wollhausen,  Geschichte  hraels,  i.  2  sq.,  425  sq. 

-a  Sanhedrin  x.  1. 

"  Bab.  Sanhedrin  99». 

••  See  in  general,  Job.  Delitzsch,  De  inspiratione  scripturae  sacrae  quid 
stutuerint  patres  apostolici  et  apolofjctac  secundi  sacculi  (Lips.  1872),  pp.  4-8, 
11-17. 

'  Baha  bathra  Ib^  (lat.  in  Marx,  Traditio  ralbinorum  veterrima  dellhronim 
Vet.  Test,  ordine  atqiie  oriyine,  Lips.  1884,  p.  23).  Philo,  Vita  Mosis,  iii. 
39  (ed.  Mang.  ii.  179).     Joseph.  Anit.  iv.  8.  48. 

«  Gittin  60». 


308  §  25.    SCRIBISM, 

authority.  They  were  for  a  long  time  respected  and  used  as 
a  valuable  legacy  of  antiquity,  before  their  canonization  was 
thought  of.  Gradually  however  they  appeared  beside  the 
law  as  a  second  class  of  "  sacred  Scriptures,"  and  the  longer 
their  combination  with  the  law  became  customary,  the  more 
was  its  specific,  i.e.  its  legally  binding  dignity,  and  therefore 
its  canonical  validity,  transferred  to  them.  They  too  were 
regarded  as  documents  in  which  the  will  of  God  was  revealed 
in  a  manner  absolutely  binding.  Lastly,  at  a  still  later  stage 
there  was  added  to  this  body  of  the  "  prophets  "  (n''S''a3)  a  third 
collection  of  "  writings  "  (ö''?^'^3),  which  gradually  entered  into 
the  same  category  of  canonical  Scriptures.  The  origin  of  these 
two  collections  is  quite  veiled  in  obscurity.  The  most  ancient 
testimony  to  the  collocation  of  loth  collections  with  the  Thorah 
is  the  prologue  to  the  Book  of  Wisdom  (second  century  b.c.).'' 
We  cannot,  however,  determine  from  it  that  the  third  collec- 
tion was  then  already  concluded ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  very 
probable  that  in  the  time  of  Josephus  the  canon  had  already 
assumed  a  lastins;  form,  and  indeed  the  same  which  it  has  to 
this  day.  Josephus  expressly  says,  that  there  were  among 
the  Jews  only  twenty-two  books  acknowledged  divine  {ßißXia 
.  .  .  Oela  ireTTKnevfjieva)  ;  that  all  the  others  were  not 
esteemed  of  equal  credit  (Trla-Tecoi;  ou^  o/iota?  rj^Lcorat).  He 
does  not,  indeed,  separately  enumerate  them,  but  it  is  very 
probable  that  he  means  by  them  the  collected  writings  of  the 
present  canon,  and  these  only.  For  the  Fathers,  especially 
Origen  and  Jerome,  expressly  say,  that  the  Jews  were  accus- 
tomed so  to  count  the  books  of  the  present  canon  as  to  make 
their  number  twenty-two.^     It  was  only  with  respect  to  cer- 

^  Prologue  to  Wisdom  :  Iloy\.Xut>  »xt  fisyüT^av  iif/.lv  S<«  rov  vL^w  kxI  toiv 
^po(pyiTuv  x,xi  ruv  ctKhuv  rZ)v  x,a,T   cclrovg  vikoXovO/ikotuv  ZiZofisvuv^  VTrip  üw 

tioV  iazlv   iTTCttUilv  TO»      I(7^«0)X    "TTOtttiixi  Kxl   GO'fixg  X,.T.'h. 

^  Joseph,  contra  Apion.  i.  8  :  Ov  yccp  /^vpicchi  ßtßi'hiuv  ual  mxp  i],u.iv  davft,- 
(fuvuv  Kctl  (/.cf/^of^iviuVj  ^vo  'hi  fiö'jx  irpog  rolg  i'iKoat  ßißhtx,  tow  ttuuto; 
'ixovTX  xpi'jtiv  TYiv  ccvx'/pa.<p'/<v,  rx  Qikxiu;  delx  Trsztarsv/aiux.  Kxl  rovrau 
viuri  f^iu  inn  t«  ^luvaiuc,  a,  rot/j  re  uö/novg  'Trtpiix-f  ^*'  'Z'^"  "^^S  xudpuT^o'/o- 
»tx;  vxpüooGiv  i^ixP'  "^^^  xinoii  n'hivryi;.      Oino;  6  x^ouo;  «xt/XsiVs/  rpux'^"^^ 


§  25.    SCPJBISM.  309 

tain  books,  especially  the  Song  of  Solomon  and  the  Look  of 
Ecclesiastes,  that  opinion  was  not  yet  quite  decided  in  the  first 
century  after  Christ.  Yet  in  respect  of  these  also  the  pre- 
vailing view  was  already  that  they  "  defile  the  hands,"  i.e.  are 
to  be  regarded  as  canonical  books.^     It  cannot  be  proved  of 

iXiyov  STOiv.  Atto  öS  TVi;  'Muvoia;  tsXsmtsjj  y^ixP'  '^'^'  Apra.^ic^'jv  rov  y^iTOC 
SioB,riV  Uspfuv  ßccai'hius  »px^S  oi  (Aiztx.  IMwiia^i"  'TrpoCfvirxi  tx  kcct  etvrci/; 
TTocf/^divT»  avviypcf^xv  iv  rpial  xett  OiKcc  ßißyJotg.  A<  OS  7.onrxi  rea^xps; 
vjni/ov;  it;  rov  6i6v  xxt  to??  duSpuTroig  V7rod'/i>cxg  rot/  ßlov  Trepii^ovaiv.  'Axo 
oi  '  ApTx^SD^ov  f^ixpi  Tov  y-xd  iif^x:  xoovov  '/iypxvrxi  ptiv  iKxarx,  ■Trwrsa;  0£ 
oi/x  öfioix;  ii^iUTXi  rot;  Trpti  xvtuv  dix  to  ptvi  yiviodxi  rriv  toiv  'Trooip-firuu  xy.pißij 
lixlox^iv.  Jerome  in  his  Proloyus  (jaleatus  to  the  Books  of  Samuel  (0pp.  ed. 
Vallarsi,  ix.  455  sq. ;  see  the  passage,  e.g.  in  Gfrorer,  Jahrh.  des  Heils,  i. 
237  sq.,  and  in  the  introductions  of  De  Wette,  Bleek  and  others)  gives  the 
following  enumeration  as  that  customari/  amonc]  the  Jews:  (1-5)  Pentateuch  ; 
(6)  Joshua;  (7)  Judges  and  Ruth ;  (8)  Samuel;  (9)  Kings;  (10)  Isaiah; 
(11)  Jeremiah  and  Lamentations;  (12)  Ezekiel ;  (13)  twelve  minor  pro- 
phets; (14)  Job;  (15)  Psalms;  (16)  Proverbs;  (17)  Ecclesiastes; 
(18)  Song  of  Solomon;  (19)  Daniel;  (20)  Chronicles;  (21)  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  ;  (22)  Esther.  The  same  enumeration,  but  in  a  somewhat  dif- 
ferent order  (and  witli  the  omission  of  the  twelve  minor  prophets,  which 
must  however  be  an  oversight  of  the  transcriber),  is  given  by  Origen  in 
Eusebius'  Ilist.Eccl.  vi.  25  (in  which  the  designation  ' A^y.io(piKuouy.  for 
the  Book  of  Numbers,  which  is  generally  left  unexplained,  is  nothing  else 
than  D"'n^p3  t'Oin,  Joma  vii.  1 ;  Sota  vii.  7  ;  Menachoth  iv.  3).  It  can 
consequently  be  hardly  doubtful,  that  Josephus  also  takes  this  enumeration 
for  granted,  and  intends  by  his  5  +  13  +  4  =  22  books  our  present  canon. 
The  four  books  containing  "  hymns  of  x^raise  to  God  and  rules  of  life  for 
men,"  are  the  Psalms  and  the  three  Books  of  Solomon.  That  1  Chron.  and 
2  Chron.  formed,  as  early  as  the  time  of  Christ,  the  closing  books  of  the 
canon,  may  be  inferred  from  Matt,  xxiii.  35  =  Luke  xi.  51,  where  the  slay- 
ing of  Zachariah  is  mentioned  as  the  last  murder  of  a  prophet.  Chronolo- 
gically viewed  tlie  death  of  Urijah,  Jer.  xxvi.  20-23,  was  later,  but  according 
to  the  order  of  the  canon  the  assas-^sination  related  in  2  Chronicles  is 
certainly  the  last. 

^  Jadajim  iii.  5  :  "  All  holy  Scriptures,  even  the  Song  of  Solomon  and 
Ecclesiastes,  defile  the  hands."  R.  Judah  says :  The  Song  of  Solomon  defiles 
the  hands,  but  Ecclesiastes  is  doubtful.  R.  Joses  says  :  Ecclesiastes  does  not 
defile  the  hands,  and  the  Song  of  Solomon  is  doubtful.  R.  Simon  says : 
Ecclesiastes  is  among  the  points  on  which  the  school  of  Shammai  decides 
in  a  manner  to  lighten,  the  school  of  Hillel  in  a  manner  to  aggravate  diffi- 
culty. R.  Simon  ben  Asai  said :  I  have  received  it  as  the  tradition  of  the 
seventy-two  elders,  that  on  the  day  that  R.  Eieazar  ben  Asariali  was  named 
president,  it  was  decided  tliat  the  Song  of  Solomon  and  Ecclesiastes  defile 
the  hands.  R.  Akiba  said :  No,  no.  Never  has  any  one  in  Israel  affirmed 
that  the  Soug  of  Solomon  did  not  defile  the  hands.     For  no  day  in  the 


310  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

other  books  than  those  of  our  present  canon,  that  they  were 
ever  reckoned  canonical  by  the  Palestinian  Jews,  although 
the  Book  of  Wisdom  was  so  highly  esteemed  tliat  it  was  some- 
times cited  "in  a  manner  only  customary  in  the  case  of 
passages  of  Scripture."  ^°  It  was  only  the  Hellenistic  Jews 
who  combined  a  whole  series  of  other  books  with  those  of  the 
Hebrew  canon.  But  then  they  had  no  definite  completion  of 
the  canon  at  all. 

Notwithstanding  the  combination  of  the  Nebiim  and  Kethu- 

history  of  the  world  was  ever  of  so  great  importance  as  that  on  which  the 
Song  of  Solomon  appeared  in  Israel.  For  all  other  scriptures  are  holy,  but 
the  Song  of  Solomon  the  holiest  of  all.  If  there  was  any  dispute,  it  was 
respecting  Ecclesiastes.  R.  Johanan,  son  of  Joshua,  the  son  of  R.  Akiba's 
father-in-law,  said :  As  ben  Asai  has  declared,  so  was  it  disputed  and  so 
decided.  Edujoth  v.  3 :  R.  Simon  (according  to  R.  Ismael)  says :  In 
three  cases  the  school  of  Shammai  decided  in  a  manner  to  lighten,  the 
school  of  Hillel  to  aggravate  difficulties.  According  to  the  school  of 
Shammai,  Ecclesiastes  does  not  defile  the  hands ;  the  school  of  Hillel  says : 
It  defiles  the  hands,  etc.  Hieronymus,  Comment,  in  Ecclesiast.  xii.  13 
{0pp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  iii.  496)  :  "  Aiuut  Hebraei  quum  inter  caetera  scripta 
Salomonis  quae  antiquata  sunt  nee  in  memoria  duraverunt  et  hie  lihcr  oUi- 
terandus  videretur  eo  quod  vanas  Dei  assereret  creaturas  et  totum  putaret 
esse  pro  nihilo  et  cibum  et  potum  et  delicias  transeuntes  praeferret  omnibus, 
ex  hoc  uno  capitulo  meruisse  auctoritatem,  ut  in  divinorum  voluminum 
numero  poueretur."  See  in  general,  Bleek,  Theol.  Stud,  und  Kritik.  1853, 
p.  321  sq.  Delitzsch,  Zeitsch.  für  luih.  Theol.  1854,  pp.  280-283.  Strack, 
ait.  "Kanon  des  A.  T.'s,"  in  Herzog's  Real-Encycl..,  2nd  ed.  vii.  429  sq. 
Weber,  System  der  altsynagorjalen  paläst.  Theologie,  p.  81. 

^^  S.  Zuiiz,  Die  gottesdienstlichen  Vorträge  der  Juden,  p.  101  sq.  Against 
the  canonical  authority  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom,  see  Strack  in  Herzog's  lleal- 
Encycl.  vii.  430  sq.  It  is  quite  a  mistake  to  think  we  have  a  right  to  infer 
with  Movers  {Loci  qiddam  historiae  canonis  Vet.  Test,  illustrati,  1842, p.  14sq.), 
and  after  him  with  Bleek  {Stud.  u.  Krit.  1853,  p.  323),  from  those  passages 
in  Josephus  {Antt.  Preface,  §  3,  x.  10.  6,  xxii.  11.  2;  contra  Apion. 
i,  1. 10)  in  which  he  states  generally  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  {rx  iip»  y^ky.- 
[Ad-rcc,  Oil  iipxt  ßißXoi)  were  his  authorities  for  his  whole  history,  that  he 
also  regarded  such  of  his  authorities  as  did  not  belong  to  the  Hebrew  canon 
as  "  holy  Scriptures."  For  these  were  chiefly  heathen  authorities.  Geiger 
too  can  scarcely  be  right  when  he  insists  on  regarding  as  among  such 
"  holy  scriptures,"  which  according  to  Shahhath  xvi.  1  might  not  be  read 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  the  apocryphal  books  (Zcitschr.  1867,  pp.  98-102). 
For  by  these  are  probably  meant,  as  Jewish  expositors  also  declare,  the 
KethubLin  (of  these  only  the  five  Megilloth  were  used  in  the  public  worship 
of  the  synagogues,  and  these  only  on  special  occasions  during  the  year).  See 
Kisch,  Monatsschr.  für  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  1880,  p.  543  sqq. 


§  25.    SCPJBISir.  311 

bi7n  with  the  Thorah,  they  were  never  ]»laced  quite  on  a  level 
with  it.  The  Thorah  always  occu[»ie(l  a  higher  position  as 
to  its  religious  estimation.  In  it  was  deposited  and  fully 
contained  the  original  revelation  of  the  Divine  will.  In  tlie 
prophets  and  the  other  sacred  writings  this  will  of  God  was 
only  further  delivered.  Hence  these  are  designated  as  the 
"  tradition "  (p^'^P.,  Aramaean  NRCPtr'N),  and  cited  as  such.^ 
On  account  of  its  higher  value  it  was  decided  that  a  book 
of  the  law  might  be  purchased  by  the  sale  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  but  not  Holy  Scriptures  by  the  sale  of  a  book  of 
the  law.^*^  In  general,  however,  the  Nchiim  and  KctMibim 
participate  in  the  properties  of  the  Thorah.  They  are  all 
"  Holy  Scriptures  "  {^y^}  '?n3)  ;  ^^  with  respect  to  them  all  it 
is  determined,  that  contact  with  them  defiles  the  hands  (so  that 
they  may  not  be  touched  inconsiderately,  but  with  reverent 
awe).-^*  They  are  all  cited  by  essentially  the  same  formulas. 
For  although  special  formulas  are  sometimes  used  for  the 
Thorah,  yet  the  formula,  which  most  frequently  occurs,  ""?.!!?2'^', 
"  for  it  is  said,"  is  applied  without  distinction  to  the  Thorah 
and  the  other  Scriptures  ;^^  as  also  in  ilie  sphere  of  Hellenism 
(comp,  the  X.  T.),  the  formula  'yiypairrat  and  the  like.^"     Xay 

^^  hi  the  Mishna,  Taanitk  ii.  1,  a  passage  from  Joel  is  cited  with  the 
formula  :  "  in  the  tradition  he  says"  ("lOIS  Nin  n!?3p3)-  Comp,  in  general, 
Zunz,  Die  gnttcsdiemtlichen  Vorträge  der  Juden,  p.  44.  Herzfeld,  Gesch.  den 
Volkes  Jisrael,  iii.  18  sq.  Joh.  Delitzsch,  De  ivspiratiove  scripturae  sacrae, 
p.  7  sq.     Taylor,  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers  (Cambridge  1877),  p.  120sq. 

^-  Megilla  iii.  1. 

^^  Shabhath  xvi.  1 ;  Eruhin  x.  3  ;  Bahn  huthra  i.  6,^"«. ;  Sanhedrin  \.  (> ; 
Para  x.  3  ;  Jadajim  iii.  2,  5,  iv.  5,  6. 

^*  Edujoth  V.  o  ;  Kelini  xv.  G  ;  Jadajim  iii.  2,  4,  5,  iv.  5,  6. 

'^  So  e.g.  to  adduce  citations  from  tiie  Kethubim  on)}':  Lrrac/ioth  vii.  3 
(P.S.  Ixviii.  27),  Bcrachoth  ix.  5  (Ruth  ii.  4).  Pea  viii.  9  (Prov.  xi.  27),  Shah- 
liath  ix.  2  (Prov.  xxx.  19),  Shabhath  ix.  4  (Ps.  cix.  18),  f!osh  hashana  i.  2 
(Ps.  xxxiii.  15).  In  those  the  quotation  is  always  introduced  by  the  foniuila 
"1DS3B'-  But  this  very  formula  is  also  by  far  the  most  frequent  in  quota- 
tions from  the  Nebiim  and  the  Thorah.  Comp,  the  list  of  scriptural  qiiota- 
tations  in  Pinner,  Udicrsttznng  d(s  Tractates  Bcrachoth  (1812),  Introd. 
fol.  21b. 

*'■  See  in  general  on  the  fonniilas  of  citation,  Surenhusius,  ßiß'/.og  kxtu/.- 
?i«yqj  (Amstelodauii  171.')),  pp.  1-;!G.    I>öi)\iQ,JIcnnencutik  der  ncute,stanient~ 


312  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

the  Nebiim  and  Kethubim  are  sometimes  quoted  as  "  the 
law"  (v6fxo<;)}^  And  there  is  perhaps  nothing  more  charac- 
teristic of  the  full  appreciation  of  their  value  on  the  part 
of  the  Jews,  than  the  fact  that  they  too  are  not  first  of  all  to 
Jewish  conviction  didactic  or  consolatory  works,  not  books  of 
edification  or  history,  but  also  "  law,"  the  substance  of  God's 
claims  upon  His  people. 


II.  THE  SCRIBES  AND  THEIR  LABOURS  IX  GEXERAL. 

The  Literature. 

Uisiniis,  Antiquilates  Hchraicae  scliolastico-academicae.     Hafniae  1702  (ako 

in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xxi.). 
Hartmann,  Die  enge  VerMudung  des  Alten  Testaments  mit  dem  Neuen  (1831), 

pp.  384-413. 
Gfrörer,  Das  Jahrhundert  des  Heils,  i.  (1838)  pp.  109-214. 
Winer,  RWB.  ii.  425-428  (art.  "  Schriftgelehrte  ")• 
Jost,    Das  geschichtliche    Verhültniss    der    Rahhincn    zu    ihren    Gemeinden 

(Zeitschr.  für  die  historische  theologie  (1850),  pp.  351-377). 
Levysohn,  Einiges  über  die  hebräisclien  und  aramäischen  Benennungen  für 

Schide,  Schüler  und  Lehrer  (Franke's  Monatsschr.  für  Gesch.  und  Wis- 

sensch.  des  Judenth.  (1858),  pp,  384-389). 
Leyrer,  art.  "  Schriftgelehrt,"  in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  1st  ed.  vol.  xiii. 

(1860)  pp.  731-741. 
Klöpper,   art.    "  Schriftgelehrte,"   in   Schenkel's   Bibellcxicon,  vol.  v.  pp. 

247-255. 
Ginsburg,  art.  "  Scribes,"  in  Kitto's  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical  Literature. 
Plumptre,  art.  "  Scribes,"  in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 
Weber,    System   der   altsynagogalen   palästinischen    Theologie   (1880),    pp. 

121-143. 
Hamburger,  Real- Encycl.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  Div.  iL,  arts.  "Gelehrter," 

"Lehrhaus,"  "  Rabban,"  "Schüler,"  "  Sopherim,"  "Talmudlehrer," 

"  Talmudschulen,"  "  Unterhalt,"  "  Unterricht." 
Stiack,  art.  "  Schriftgelehrte,"  in  Herzog's  Real-EncycL,  2nd  ed.  xiii.  (1884) 

pp.  696-698. 


liehen  Schriftsteller  (1829),  pp.  60-69.  Pinner,  Uebersetzung  des  Tractates 
Berachoth,  lutrod.  fol.  21a,  22a.  Joh.  Delitzsch,  De  inspiratione  scripturae 
sacrae,  p.  4  sq.  Comp,  also  Strack,  Prolegomena  critica  in  Vet.  Test.  (1873), 
p.  60  sqq. 

^"  Rom.  iii,  19 ;  1  Cor.  xiv.  21 ;  John  x.  34,  xii.  34,  xv.  25. 


§  -?.:,.  scribisjVL  313 

With  the  existence  of  a  law  is  naturally  involved  tlie 
necessity  of  its  scientific  study,  and  of  a  'professional  acquaintance 
with  it.  Such  necessity  exists  at  least  in  proportion  as  this 
law  is  comprehensive  and  complicated.  An  acquaintance  with 
its  details,  a  certainty  in  the  application  of  its  several  enact- 
ments to  everyday  life,  can  then  only  be  attained  by  its  being 
made  a  matter  of  professional  occupation.  In  the  time  of 
Ezra,  and  indeed  long  after,  this  was  chiefly  the  concern  of  the 
priests.  Ezra  himself  was  at  the  same  time  both  priest  and 
scribe  (löiD).  The  most  important  element  of  the  Penta- 
teuch was  written  in  the  interest  of  the  priestly  cultus. 
Hence  the  priests  were  at  first  the  teachers  and  guardians  of 
the  law.  Gradually  however  this  was  changed.  The  higher 
the  law  rose  in  the  estimation  of  the  people,  the  more  did  its 
study  and  exposition  become  an  independent  business.  It 
was  the  law  of  God,  and  every  individual  of  the  nation  had 
the  same  interest  as  the  priests  in  knowing  and  obeying  it. 
Hence  non-priestly  Israelites  more  and  more  occupied  tliem- 
selves  with  its  scientific  study.  An  independent  class  of 
"  biblical  scholars  or  scribes,"  i.e.  of  men  who  made  acquaint- 
ance with  the  law  a  profession,  was  formed  beside  the  priests. 
And  when  in  the  time  of  Hellenism  the  priests,  at  least  those 
of  the  higher  strata,  often  applied  themselves  to  heathen 
culture,  and  more  or  less  neglected  the  law  of  their  fathers, 
the  scribes  ever  appeared  in  a  relative  contrast  to  the  priests. 
It  was  no  longer  tlie  priests,  but  the  scribes,  who  were  the 
zealous  guardians  of  the  law.  Hence  they  were  also  from 
that  time  onwards  the  real  teachers  of  the  people,  over  whose 
spiritual  life  they  bore  complete  sway. 

In  the  time  of  the  New  Testament  we  find  this  process 
fully  completed ;  the  scribes  then  formed  a  firmly  compacted 
class  in  undisputed  possession  of  a  spiritual  supremacy  over 
the  people.  They  are  usually  called  in  the  New  Testament 
ypafj-fiuTei';,  i.e.  "learned  in  Scripture,"  "  the  learned,"  corre- 
sponding to  the  Hebrew  D"'1siD,  which  in  itself  means  nothing 
more  than  homines  literati  (men  professionally  occupied  with 


314  §  25.    SCEIBISat. 

the  Scriptures).^^  That  such  occupation  should  concern  itself 
chiefly  with  the  law  was  self-evident.  Besides  this  general 
designation,  we  also  meet  with  the  more  special  one  vo/jllkoi, 
i.e.  "the  learned  in  the  law,"  "jurists"  (Matt.  xxii.  35  ;  Luke 
vii.  30,  X.  25,  xi.  45  sq.,  52,  xiv.  3);^^  and  inasmuch  as 
they  not  only  knew,  hut  taught  the  law,  they  were  likewise 
called  vofiohiSda-KaXoi,  "  teachers  of  the  law "  (Luke  v.  17; 
Acts  V.  34).  Josephus  calls  them  Trarpioiv  e^rjyrjTal  vo/ncov,^'* 
or  in  Graecized  fashion  aoc^iarai'^^  also  iepojpafifxarel<i.'^ 
In  the  Mishna  the  expression  D"'"}DiD  is  only  used  of  the 
scribes  of  former  times,  who  in  the  times  of  the  Mishna  had 
already    become    an   authority.'''     Contemporary    scribes    are 

^^  "l2iD  is  any  one  professionally  employed  about  books,  e.g.  also  a  u-ritet 
(Shabbath  xii.  5 ;  Nedarim  vs..  2 ;  Giitin  iii.  1,  vii.  2,  viii.  8,  ix.  8 ;  Baha 
mezia  v.  11 ;  Sanhedrin  iv.  3,  v.  5)  or  a  bookbinder  {Pesachim  iii.  1).  On 
its  use  in  the  Old  Testament,  see  Gesenius'  Thesaurus.,  p.  966.  When  it  ia 
said  in  the  Talmud,  that  the  scribes  were  called  D''~iS"lD  because  they 
counted  the  letters  of  the  Thorah  (Kiddushin  30a,  in  Wunsche,  Neue 
Beitrüge  zur  Erläuterung  der  Evangelien,  1878,  p.  13.  179),  this  is  of  course 
only  a  worthless  etymological  trifling. 

^'■'  vüi^iKÖg  is  in  later  Greek  the  proper  technical  expression  for  a  "  jurist," 
juris  pcritus.  Thus  especially  of  Eoman  jurists  in  Strabo,  p.  589  :  oi  ■^»pd 
'Vtai^ccioii  vofitxoi,  also  in  the  Edictum  Diocletiani,  see  Rudoiff,  Römische 
RcchtsgescMchte,  ii.  54.  It  is  not  accidentally  that  the  expression  is  so 
frequently  found  in  St.  Luke,  He  purposes  thereby  to  make  clear  to  hia 
Roman  readers  the  character  of  the  Jewi-sh  scribes. 

-^  And.  xvii.  6,  2.     Comp,  xviii.  3.  5. 

21  Bell.  Jud.  i.  33.  2,  ii.  17.  8,  9. 

-2  Bell.  Jud.  vi.  5.  3. 

^^  See  Orla  iii.  9  ;  Jebamoth  ii.  4,  ix.  3  (Suta  ix.  15)  ;  Sanhedrin  xi.  3  ; 
Kclim  xiii.  7  ;  Para  xi.  4-6  ;  Tohoroth  iv.  7,  11 ;  Tebul  jom  iv.  6  ;  Jedajim 
iii.  2.  In  all  these  passages,  with  the  exception  of  that  in  Sota  ix.  15,  which 
does  not  belong  to  the  original  text  of  the  Mishna,  "  the  ordinances  of  the 
scribes  (ü''~iS"iD  ^^2^)  "  are  spoken  of  as  distinct  from  the  prescriptions  of 
the  Thorah,  and  in  such  wise  that  the  former  also  are  regarded  as  having 
been  for  a  long  period  authoritative.  Apart  from  these  passages  the  expres- 
sion D''"i£'lD  ouiy  occurs  in  the  Mishna  in  the  sense  stated  above,  note  18. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  Shemoneh  Esreh,  in  the  13th  Beracha,  God  is  entreated 
to  let  His  mercy  dispose  of  "  the  righteous,  the  pious,  and  the  elders  of 
Israel  and  the  rest  of  the  scribes  "  (D^ICID  nü"'i'Q),  which  latter  are  cou- 
Bcquently  assumed  to  be  still  existing.  The  Greek  ypccfifixriv;  is  still 
found  in  Jewish  epitaphs  in  Rome  of  the  date  of  the  later  emperors  (2nd  to 
4th  century  after  Christ)  ;  see  Garrucci,  Ciiaitero  dcgli  antichi  Ehrei  scoperto 
recentcmente  in  Vigna  Puuidanini  (1802),  pp.  42,  46,  47,  54,  55,  59,  01. 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  315 

always  called  cp^D.  in  the  Mishna.  The  extraordinary  respect 
paid  to  these  "  scholars "  on  the  part  of  the  people  was 
expressed  by  the  titles  of  honour  bestowed  upon  them.  The 
most  usual  was  the  appellation  ""SI,  "  my  master ; "  Greek, 
paßßi  (Matt.  iii.  7  and  elsewhere).^*  From  this  respectful 
address  the  title  Kabbi  was  gradually  formed,  the  suflix  losing 
its  pronominal  signification  with  the  frequent  use  of  the 
address,  and  ^31  being  also  used  as  a  title  (Eabbi  Joshua, 
Kabbi  Eliezer,  Eabbi  Akiba).^"  This  use  cannot  be  proved 
before  the  time  of  Christ.  Hillel  and  Shammai  were  never 
called  Rabbis,  nor  is  paßßi  found  in  the  New  Testament 
except  as  an  actual  address.  The  word  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  used  as  a  title  till  after  the  time  of  Christ.  |31,  or  as 
the  word  is  also  pronounced  Ii3"i,  is  an  enhanced  form  of  2"). 
The  first  form  seems  to  belong  more  to  the  Hebrew,  the 
second  to  the  Aramaean  usage.^^      Hence  )3t  is  found  in  the 

Garrucci,  Dissertazioni  archeologische,  vol.  ii.  (1865),  p.  165,  no.  20,  21,  p. 
182,  no.  21. 

-*  31  means  simply  "  master,"'  in  opposition,  e.g.,  to  slave  (Sukka  ii.  9  ; 
Gittin  iv.  4,  5  ;  Editjoth  i.  1,3  ;  Aboih  i.  3).  The  mode  of  address  ">2"l,  "  my 
master,"  is  found  in  the  Mishna,  e.g.  J^esachiin  vi.  2 ;  Rosh  hashana  ii.  0, 
fill.;  Xcilarim  ix.  5;  Baha  kamma  viii.  6.  Also  with  the  plural  suffix 
^rai,  "our  master,"  Berachoth  ii.  5,  7.  This  predicate  having  been  bestowed 
upon  the  scribes  in  their  teaching  capacity,  3"i  gradually  acquired  the 
meaning  of  "  teacher."  It  seems  to  have  been  already  thus  used  in  a 
saying  attributed  to  Joshua  ben  Perachiah,  Ahoth  i.  6.  In  the  time  of  the 
Mishna  this  meaning  was,  at  all  event.s,  quite  common  ;  see  Rash  ha.skana 
ii.  9,ßn.;  Baha  mezia  ii.  11  ;  Edujoth  i.  3,  viii.  7  ;  Ahoth  iv.  12  ;  Kcrithoth 
vi.  9,  fin. ;  Jadajim  iv.  3,  ßn.     Comp.  John  i.  89. 

25  Like  Momieur.  Comp,  on  the  title  of  Rabbi  generally,  Seruppii 
Dis.<^crt.  de  titulo  Rahhi  (in  Ugolini's  Thesaurus,  vol.  xxi.).  Lightfoot  and 
Wetzstein  on  Matt,  xxiii.  7.  Buxtorf,  Dc  abhreviaturis  hcbraici.<<,  pp.  172-177. 
Carpzov,  Apparatus  historico-cridcus,  p.  137  sqq.  Winer,  RWB.  ii.  290  sq. 
Pressel  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc,  1st  ed.  xii.  471  sq.  Grätz,  Gesch.  der  Juden, 
iv.  431  Ewald,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Israel,  v.  305.  Steiner  in  Schenkel's 
Bihcllex.  v.  29  sq.  Riehm's  Würterh.  s.v.  Hamburger,  Real-Enc,  Üiv.  ii. 
art.  "Rabban.''     The  Lexica  to  the  New  Testament,  s.v.  pußßi. 

^c  Both  forms  appear  iu  the  Targums  (see  Buxtorf,  Le.v.  i'hald.  s.v. 
Levy,  Chald.  Würterh.  s.v.),  and  on  tlic  other  hand  pi  almost  always  in 
the  Hebrew.  Of  the  form  jni  only  one  example  is  known  to  me  in  the 
Mishna,  viz.  in  Taanilh  iii.  8,  where  it  is  used  with  reference  to  God.     On 


316  §  25.    SCPJBISM. 

Mislma  as  tlie  title  of  four  prominent  scribes  of  the  period  of 
the  Mishna  (about  A.D.  40-150),^"  and  in  the  New  Testament, 
on  the  other  hand,  paßßovvu  (P^l  or  P^l)  as  a  respectful 
address  to  Christ  (Mark  x.  51  ;  John  xx.  16).^^  In  the  Greek 
of  the  New  Testament  Eabbi  is  represented  by  Kvpie  (Matt. 
viii.  2,  6,  8,  21,  25  and  frequently)  or  SiSdaKoXe  (Matt.  viii.  9 
and  frequently) ;  in  St.  Luke  also  by  iiriardTa  (Luke  v.  5,  viii. 
24,  45,  ix.  33,  49,  xvii.  13).  Uanjp  and  Ka67]yr)T^<i  (Matt, 
xxiii.  9, 10)  are  also  mentioned  as  other  names  of  honour  given 
to  scribes.  The  latter  is  probably  equal  to  nniD,  "  teacher."  ^ 
The  former  answers  to  the  Aramaic  i^3*?,  which  also  occurs 
in  the  Llishna  and  Tosefta  as  the  title  of  several  Eabbis.^° 

the  meaning  of  pT  Aruch  says  {s.v.  "'"'3X,  see  the  passage,  eg.  in  Buxtorf, 
De  ahhreviatiiris,  p.  176):  pn  "»niO  !^n'1  ^2")  31D  h^J,  "greater  than 
Rab  is  Rabbi,  and  greater  than  Rabbi  is  Rabban." 

2'  These  four  are — (1)  Rabban  Gamaliel  I.,  (2)  Rabban  Johanan  ben 
Sakkai,  (3)  Rabban  Gamaliel  II.,  (4)  Rabban  Simon  ben  Gamaliel  II.  To 
all  these  the  title  p-|  is  as  a  rule  ascribed  in  the  best  MSS.  of  the  Mishna 
(e.g.  Cod.  de  Rossi  138).  Rabban  Gamaliel  III.,  son  of  R.  Judah  ha-Nasi, 
also  occurs  once  in  the  Mishna  {Aboth  ii.  2).  Of  two  others,  to  whom  thia 
title  is  usually  applied  (Simon  the  son  of  Hillel,  and  Simon  the  son  of 
Gamaliel  I.),  the  former  does  not  occur  in  the  Mishna  at  all,  the  latter,  at 
least  in  the  chief  passage,  Aboth  i.  17,  not  under  this  title.  He  is  however 
probably  intended  by  Rabban  Simon  ben  Gamaliel,  mentioned  Kerithoth 
i.  7. 

2^  The  opinion  formerly  expressed  by  Delitzsch,  that  the  form  jm  is  only 
used  with  reference  to  God  {Zeitschr .f.  lutJi.  Theol.  1876,  pp.  409,  606),  has 
been  since  withdrawn  by  himself  as  erroneous  from  consideration  of  the 
usual  diction  of  the  Targiun  {Zeitschr.  f.  luth.  Theol.  1878,  p.  7).  That 
the  form  p2")  is  pronounced  ribbon  by  modern  Jews,  as  also  13*1,  ribhi,  is 
quite  irrelevant.  The  shortening  of  a  into  i  is  confessedly  very  frequent  in 
Hebrew,  but  in  this  case  of  very  recent  date.  In  the  Middle  Ages  it  was 
probably  still  pronoimced  p^i,  as  the  Cod.  de  Rossi  138  prints  the  passage 
Taanith  iii  8.  Comp,  also  Delitzsch,  Zeitschr.  f.  luth.  Theol.  1876,  p.  606. 
It  is  only  for  the  Aramaean  that  the  pronunciation  ribbon  is  well  evidenced. 
See  Berliner's  Ausgabe  des  Onkelos,  e.g.  Gen.  xix.  2,  xlii.  30;  Ex.  xxi. 
4-8,  xxiii.  17. 

2^  See  Wünsche,  Neue  Beitrage  zur  Erläuterung  der  Evangelien  (1878), 
p.  279  sq. 

^^  Abba  Saul  is  the  most  frequently  mentioned  among  these,  Pea  viii.  5  ; 
Kilajim  ii.  3;  Shabbath  xxiii.  3  ;  Shekalim  iv.  2  ;  Beza  iii.  8;  Aboth  ii.  8; 
Middoth  ii.  5,  v.  4  and  elsewhere.  Comp,  also  Abba  Gurjan  {Kiddushin  iv. 
14)  ;  Abba  Joses  ben  Chanan  {Middoth  ii.  6.     Tosefta,  ed.  Zuckermandel, 


§  25.    SCKIBISM.  317 

The  Eabbis  required  from  their  pupils  the  most  absolute 
reverence,  surpassing  even  the  honour  felt  for  parents.  "  Let 
thine  esteem  for  thy  friend  border  upon  thy  respect  for  thy 
teacher,  and  respect  for  thy  teacher  on  reverence  for  God."  ^^ 
"  Respect  for  a  teacher  should  exceed  respect  for  a  father,  for 
both  father  and  son  owe  respect  to  a  teacher."  ^^  "  If  a  man's 
father  and  teacher  have  lost  anything,  the  teacher's  loss  has 
the  precedence  (i.e.  he  must  first  be  assisted  in  recovering  it). 
For  his  father  only  brought  him  into  this  world.  His  teacher, 
who  taught  him  wisdom,  brings  him  into  the  life  of  the  world 
to  come.  But  if  his  father  is  himself  a  teacher,  then  his 
father's  loss  has  precedence.  If  a  man's  father  and  his  teacher 
are  carrying  burdens,  he  must  first  help  his  teacher  and  after- 
wards his  father.  If  his  father  and  his  teacher  are  in  captivity, 
he  must  first  ransom  his  teacher  and  afterwards  his  father. 
But  if  his  father  be  himself  a  scholar,  the  father  has  pre- 
cedence." ^^  The  Eabbis  in  general  everywhere  claimed  the 
first  rank.  "  They  loved  the  uppermost  rooms  at  feasts,  and 
the  chief  seats  in  the  synagogues  and  greetings  in  the  markets, 
and  to  be  called  of  men  Eabbi,  Eabbi"  (Matt,  xxiii.  6,  7; 
Mark  xii.  38,  39  ;  Luke  xi.  43,  xx.  46). 

All  the  labours  of  the  scribes,  whether  educational  or 
judicial,  were  to  be  gratuitous.  R.  Zadok  said :  Make  the 
knowledge  of  the  law  neither  a  crown  wherewith  to  make  a 
show,  nor  a  spade  wherewith  to  dig.  Hillel  used  to  say:  He 
who  uses  the  crown  (of  the  law)  for  external  aims  fades 
away.^*  That  the  judge  might  not  receive  presents  was 
already  prescribed  in  the  Old  Testament  (Ex.  xxiii.  8  ;  Deut. 
xvi.  9).      Hence  it  is  also  said  in  the  Mishna :  "  If  any  one 

pp.  154.  18,  199.  22,  233.  22,  655.  31) ;  Abba  Joses  ben  Dosai  (Tosefta  23. 
4,  217.  19,  3G0.  16,  etc.)  ;  Abba  Judan  (Tosrfta  259.  18,  616.  .'51).  Others 
in  Zuckermandel's  Index  to  the  Tosefta,  p.  xxxi. 

31  Aboth  iv.  12.  82  Kcrlthoth  vi.  9,/n. 

83  Baba  viezia  ii.  11.  Comp,  also  Gfrörer,  Das  Jahrhundert  des  Ileib, 
i.  144  sq.     Weber,  System  der  altsijnafjogalcn  paläst.  Theologie,  p.  121  sq. 

8*  Aboth  iv.  5,  i.  13.  Comp,  also  Gfrörer,  Das  Jahrh.  des  Heib,  i.  156- 
160. 


318  §  25.    SCEIBISM. 

receives  payment  for  a  judicial  decision,  his  sentence  is  not 
valid."  ^^  The  Eabbis  were  therefore  left  to  other  sources 
for  obtaining  a  livelihood.  Some  were  persons  of  property, 
others  practised  some  trade  as  well  as  the  study  of  the  law. 
The  combination  of  some  secular  business  with  the  study  of 
the  law  is  especially  recommended  by  Eabban  Gamaliel  III., 
son  of  R  Judall  ha-Nasi.  "  For  exertion  in  both  keeps  from 
sin.  The  study  of  the  law  without  employment  in  business 
must  at  last  be  interrupted,  and  brings  transgression  after 
it."  ^^  It  is  known  that  St,  Paul,  even  when  a  preacher  of 
the  gospel,  practised  a  trade  (Acts  xviii.  3  ;  1  Thess.  ii.  9  ; 
2  Thess.  iii.  8).  And  we  are  told  the  like  of  many  Eabbis.®' 
In  such  a  case  their  occupation  with  the  law  was  of  course 
esteemed  the  more  important,  and  they  were  cautioned  against 
over-estimation  of  their  secular  business.  The  son  of  Sirach 
already  warns  against  a  one-sided  devotion  to  handicraft,  and 
extols  the  blessing  of  scriptural  wisdom  (Wisd.  xxxviii.  24- 
39,  11).  E.  Meir  said:  Give  yourselves  less  to  trade  and 
occupy  yourselves  more  with  the  law  ;  '^  and  Hillel :  He  who 
devotes  himself  too  much  to  trade  will  not  grow  wise.^^ 

The  principle  of  non-remuneration  was  strictly  carried  out 
only  in  iheir  judicial  labours,  but  hardly  in  their  employment 
as  teachers.  Even  in  the  Gospel,  notwithstanding  the  express 
admonition  to  the  disciples,  Scopeav  iXdßere,  hoapeav  höre 
(Matt.  X.  8),  it  is  also  said  that  a  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire 
(Matt.  X.  10  ;  Luke  x.  7),  to  which  saying  St.  Paul  expressly 
refers  (1  Cor.  ix.  15)  when  he  claims  as  his  right — although 
he  but  exceptionally  used  it — a  maintenance  from  those  to 
whom  he  preached  the  gospel  (1    Cor.  ix.  3-18  ;  2  Cor.  xi. 

35  BecJioroth  iv.  6.  3"  Aboth  ii.  2. 

3''  Comp.  Hartmann,  Die  enge  Verbindung  des  Alten  Testaments  mit  dem 
Neuen,  p.  410  sq.  Gfrörer,  Das  Jahrh.  des  Heils,  i.  160-163.  Delitzsch, 
Handiccrkerleben  zur  Zeit  Jesu  (2nd  ed.  1875),  pp.  71-83 ;  Lehrstand 
und  Handwerk  in  Verbindung.  Hamburger,  Real  -  Enc,  Div.  ii.  p.  288 
(art.  "Gelehrter")  and  p.  1241  (art.  "  Uuterhalt").  Seligmann  Meyer, 
Arbeit  und  Handtcerk  im  Talmud  (1878),  pp.  23-36. 

38  Aboth  iv,  10,  39  jii^^iji  ii.  5. 


§  25.    SCFJBISM.  319 

8,  9  ;  Phil.  iv.  10-18.  Comp,  also  Gal.  vi.  G).  If  such  \vas 
the  view  of  the  times,  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  Jewish 
teachers  of  the  law  also  did  not  always  impart  their  instruction 
gratuitously,  nay  the  very  exhortations  quoted  above,  not  to 
practise  instruction  in  the  law  for  the  sake  of  selfish  interest, 
lead  ns  to  infer  that  absence  of  remuneration  was  not  tlie 
general  rule.  In  Christ's  censures  of  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees their  covetousness  is  a  special  object  of  reproof  (Mark 
xii.  40  ;  Luke  xx.  47,  xvi.  14).  Hence,  even  if  their 
instruction  was  given  gratuitously,  they  certainly  knew  how 
to  compensate  themselves  in  some  other  way.  The  moral 
testimony  borne  to  them  by  Christ  was  by  no  means  of  the 
best :  "  All  their  works  they  do  to  be  seen  of  men  :  they 
make  broad  their  phylacteries  and  enlarge  the  borders  of 
their  garments  (Matt,  xxiii.  5),  and  love  to  go  in  long 
garments  "  (Mark  xii.  38  ;  Luke  xx.  46). 

The  headquarters  of  the  operations  of  the  scribes  was  of 
course  Judaea  until  A.D.  70.  But  we  should  be  mistaken  if 
we  expected  to  find  them  there  only.  Wherever  zeal  for  the 
law  of  the  fathers  was  active  they  were  indispensable.  Hence 
we  meet  with  them  in  Galilee  also  (Luke  v.  17),  nay  in  the 
distant  Dispersion ;  for  ypafifiarel^  are  frequently  mentioned 
in  Jewish  epitaphs  in  Rome  of  the  later  imperial  period  (see 
above,  note  23),  and  the  Babylonian  scribes  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries  were  the  authors  of  the  Talmud,  the  chief  work 
of  Eabbinic  Judaism. 

After  the  separation  of  the  Pharisaic  and  Sadducaean 
tendencies  the  scribes  in  general  adhered  to  the  former.  For 
this  was  nothing  else  but  the  party,  that  acknowledged  as  an 
authoritative  rule  of  life  the  maxims,  which  had  in  the 
course  of  time  been  developed  by  the  scribes,  and  souglit  to 
carry  them  strictly  out.  Inasmuch  however  as  the  "  scribes  " 
were  merely  "  men  learned  in  the  law,"  there  must  have  been 
also  Sadducaean  scribes.  For  it  is  not  conceivable  that  the 
Sadducees,  who  acknowledered  the  written  law  as  bindiufr, 
should  have  had  among  them  none  who  made  it  their  pro- 


320  §  25.    SCrjBISM. 

fession  to  frtudy  it.  In  fact  those  passages  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  speak  of  scribes  who  werfe  of  the  Pharisees 
(Mark  ii.  16  ;  Luke  v.  30  ;  Acts  xxiii.  9),  point  also  to  the 
existence  of  Sadducaean  scribes. 

The  professional  employment  of  the  scribes  referred,  if  not 
exclusively,  yet  first  and  chiefly,  to  the  law,  and  therefore  to 
the  administration  of  justice.  They  were  in  the  first  instance 
Jurists,  and  their  task  was  in  this  respect  a  threefold  one : 

(1)  the  more  careful  theoretical  development  of  the  law  itself ; 

(2)  the  teaching  of  it  to  their  pupils ;  (3)  its  ^practical 
administration,  that  is,  the  pronunciation  of  legal  decisions  as 
learned  assessors  in  courts  of  justice.* 

1.  First  the  theoretic  develo2Jment  of  the  laio  itself.  This 
indeed  was  immovably  fixed  as  to  its  principles  in  the  Thorah 
itself.  But  no  codex  of  law  goes  into  such  detail  as  to  be  in 
no  need  of  exposition,  while  some  of  the  appointments  of  the 
Mosaic  law  are  expressed  in  very  general  terms.  Here  then  was 
a  wide  field  for  the  labours  of  the  scribes.  They  had  always 
to  develop  with  careful  casuistry  the  general  precepts  given 
in  the  Thorah,  that  so  a  guarantee  might  exist,  that  the 
tendency  of  the  precepts  of  the  law  had  been  really  appre- 
hended according  to  their  full  extent  and  meaning.  In  those 
points  for  which  the  written  law  made  no  direct  provision  a 
compensation  had  to  be  created,  either  by  the  establishment  of 
a  precedent,  or  by  inference  from  other  already  valid  legal 
decisions.  By  the  diligence  with  which  this  occupation  was 
carried  on  during  the  last  centuries  before  the  Christian  era, 
Jewish  law  became  gradually  an  extensive  and  complicated 
science ;  and  this  law  not  being  fixed  in  writing,  but  pro- 
pagated by  oral  tradition,  very  assiduous  study  was  required 
to  obtain  even  a  general  acquaintance  with  it.  An  acquaint- 
ance however  with  what  was  binding  was  but  the  foundation 
and  prerequisite  for  the  professional  labours  of  the  scribes. 
Their    special    province    was    to    develop    what  was    already 

^0  This  threefold  "power  of  the  wise  "  is  also  correctly  distinguished  by 
Weber  (System  der  altsijnagogalen  palüstinischen  Theologie,  pp.  130-143). 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  321 

binding  by  continuous  methodical  labours  into  more  and  more 
subtle  casuistic  details.  For  all  casuistry  is  by  its  very 
nature  endless.*^ 

The  object  of  all  these  labours  being  to  settle  a  system  of 
law  binding  on  all,  the  work  could  not  be  performed  in  an 
isolated  manner  by  individual  scribes.  It  was  necessary  that 
constant  mutual  communication  should  be  going  on  among 
them  for  the  purpose  of  arriving,  upon  the  ground  of  a  common 
understanding,  at  some  generally  acknowledged  results.  Hence 
the  \uliole  process  of  systematizing  the  law  was  carried  on  in  tlie 
form  of  oral  discussions  of  the  scribes  among  each  other.  The 
acknowledged  authorities  not  merely  gathered  about  them 
pupils,  whom  they  instructed  in  the  law,  but  also  debated 
legal  questions  among  themselves,  nay  discussed  the  entire 
matter  of  the  law  in  common  disputations.  Of  this  method 
of  giving  structure  to  the  law,  the  Mislina  everywhere 
testifies.'*^'*  To  make  this  possible,  it  was  needful  that  the 
heads  at  least  of  the  body  of  scribes  should  dwell  together 
at  certain  central  localities.  ]\Iany  indeed  would  be  scattered 
about  the  country  for  the  purposes  of  giving  instruction  and 
pronouncing  judicial  decisions.  But  the  majority  of  those 
authorities,  who  were  mainly  of  creative  genius,  must  have 
been  concentrated  at  some  one  central  point — till  A.D.  70  at 
Jerusalem,  and  afterwards  at  other  places  (Jabne,  Tiberias). 

The  law  thus  theoretically  developed  by  scholars  was 
certainly,  in  the  first  place,  only  a  theory.  In  many  points 
it  also  remained  such,  the  actual  historical  and  political 
circumstances  not  allowing  of  its  being  carried  into  practice.*^^ 
In  general  however  the  labours  of  the  scribes  stood  in  an 
active  relation   to    actual   life  ;    and   in   proportion   as   their 

**  Sec  further  details  in  No.  3  :  Halachah  and  Haggadah. 

*'a  Compare  e.g.  Pea  vi.  6  ;  Kilajim  iii.  7,  vi.  4  ;  Terumoth  v.  4  ;  Manser 
sheiii  ii.  2 ;  Shalhaih  viii.  7  ;  Pesachvn  vi.  2,  5  ;  Kerilhoih  iii.  10  ;  Mach- 
shirin  vi.  8  ;  Jadajim  iv.  3. 

•«lb  For  an  instructive  example  of  the  kind,  see  Jadajim  iv.  3-4.  Comp, 
also  the  purely  theoretical  dcfinitione  as  to  the  composition  of  the  tribes, 
Saiihedri)!  i.  .5  ;  Hnrajoth  i.  .''). 

DIV.  II.  VOL.  1.  X 


322  §  25.    SCPJBISM. 

credit  increased,  did  their  theory  oecome  valid  law.  In  the  last 
century  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  the  Pharisaic 
scribes  bore  already  such  absolute  spiritual  sway,  that  the 
great  Sanhedrim,  notwithstanding  its  mixed  composition  of 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  adhered  in  practice  to  the  law 
developed  by  the  Pharisees  (see  above,  p.  179).  Many 
matters  were  besides  of  such  a  nature  as  not  to  need  any 
formal  legislation.  For  the  godly  would  observe  religious 
institutions,  not  on  account  of  formal  legislation,  but  by 
reason  of  a  voluntary  subjection  to  an  authority  which  they 
acknowledged  as  legitimate.*^  Hence  the  maxims  developed 
by  the  scribes  were  recognised  as  binding  in  practice  also, 
so  soon  as  the  schools  were  agreed  about  them.  The  serines 
were  in  fact,  though  not  upon  the  ground  of  formal  appoint- 
ment, legislators.  This  applies  in  a  very  special  manner  to 
the  time  after  the  dcstructioii  of  the  temple.  There  then  no 
longer  existed  a  civil  court  of  justice  like  the  former  Sanhedrim. 
The  Ptabbinical  scribes,  with  their  purely  spiritual  authority, 
were  now  the  only  influential  factors  for  laying  down  a  rule. 
They  had  formerly  been  the  aetual  establishers  of  law,  they 
now  were  more  "and  more  acknowledged  as  deciding  authorities. 
Their  judgment  sufficed  to  determine  ivhat  was  valid  law.  As 
soon  then  as  doubt  arose  concerning  any  point,  or  it  was 
questioned  whether  this  or  that  course  of  action  should  be 
embraced,  it  was  customary  to  bring  the  matter  "  before  the 
learned,"  who  then  pronounced  an  authoritative  decision.*^ 
And  so  great  was  the  authority  of  these  teachers  of  the  law, 
that  the  judgment  of  even  one  respected  teacher  sufficed  to 
decide  a  question."     New  dogmas,  i.e.  new  rules  legally  valid, 

*-  The  priests  too  almost  always  followed  the  theory  of  the  scribes. 
They  are  but  exceptional  cases  in  which  the  Mishna  has  to  report  a  differ- 
ence between  the  practice  of  the  priests  aud  the  theory  of  the  Rabbis  ;  see 
Sheknllm  i.  3-4  ;  Joma  vi.  3  ;  Sehachim  xii.  4. 

^3  "  Hie  matter  came  hforc  the  learned  (D''D3n)  and  they  decided  thus  and 
thus,''  is  a  formula  of  frequent  occurrence.  See  e.g.  Kilajim  iv.  9  ;  Edujoth 
vii.  3  ;  Bechoroth  v  3. 

^■*  In  this  manner  arc  doubtful  cases  decided,  e.g. ,  by  Rabban  Johanan 


§  25.    SCEIBISM.  323 

sometimes  even  differing  from  what  had  hitherto  been 
customary,  were  laid  down,  without  even  such  special  occasion.'*' 
In  such  cases  however  it  was  always  assumed  that  the  decision 
of  the  individual  agreed  with  the  decision  of  the  majority  of 
all  the  teachers  of  the  law,  and  was  accepted  by  them 
(see  No.  3).  Hence  it  might  happen  that  the  decision  of 
a  single  teacher  would  be  subsequently  corrected  by  the 
majority,*^  or  that  even  an  eminent  teacher  would  be 
obliged  to  subordinate  his  own  view  to  those  of  a  "  court " 
of  teachers.*' 

The  legislative  power  of  the  Eabbis  was  a  thing  so  self- 
evident  in  the  time  of  the  Mishna,  that  it  is  often  without 
further  ceremony  assumed  also  for  the  time  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem.  It  is  said  quite  naturally  that  Hillel 
decreed  this  or  that,**  or  that  Gamaliel  I.  enacted  this  or 
that.'*'''  And  yet  not  Hillel  or  Gamaliel  I.,  but  the  great 
Sanhedrim  of  Jerusalem,  was  then  the  ultimate  resort  for 
decision.  For  thence  proceeded,  as  is  said  in  the  Mishna 
itself,  "  the  law  for  all  Israel."  ^°  The  truth  in  this  repre- 
sentation is,  that  in  any  case  the  great  teachers  of  the  law 
were  already  the  deciding  authorities. 

2.  The  second  chief  task  of  the  scribes  was  to  teach  the  Icav. 
The  ideal  of  legal  Judaism  was  properly,  that  every  Israelite 
should  have  a  professional  acquaintance  with  the  law.  If 
this  were  unattainable,  then  the  greatest  possible  number  was 

ben  Sakkai  (SJiahhath  xvi.  7,  xxii.  3),  Rabban  Gamaliel  II.  (KtUm  v.  -1),  K. 
Akiba  (Kilajim  vii.  5  ;  Tertimuth  iv.  13  ;  Jehamoth  xii.  5  ;  Nidda  viii.  3). 

■"'  So  e.(j.  by  Kabbau  Johanan  boii  Sakkai  {Sukka  iii.  12;  Rosh  hashaua 
iv.  1,  3,  4 ;  Sota  ix.  9  ;  Menachoth  x.  5)  and  by  R.  Akiba  {Maascr  aheni 
V.  8  ;  Nasir  vi.  1  ;  Sanliedrin  iii.  4). 

*6  Thus  was  a  decision  of  Nalmra  the  Median  subsequently  corrected  by 
"the  learned,-'  Nasir  v.  4. 

'*''  E.g.  R.  Joshua  had  to  agree  to  a  docisiou  of  Rabban  Gamaliel  II. 
and  Jus  court,  Ro.^h  hashann  ii.  9. 

**  Shehiilh  x.  3  ;  Gittiu  iv.  3  ;  Arachin  ix.  4.  Everywhere  with  the 
formula  ppnn,  "he  decreed." 

**  Rosh  hashana  ii.  5 ;  Gittiii  iv.  2-3.     Equally  with  the  formula  ppDH- 
*°  Sanhcdrin  xi.  2. 


324  §  25.    SCRIßlSM. 

to  be  raised  to  this  ideal  elevation.  "  Bring  up  many  scholars  " 
is  said  to  have  been  already  a  motto  of  the  men  of  the  Great 
Synagogue.^^  Hence  the  more  famous  Eabbis  often  assembled 
about  them  in  great  numbers,  youths  desirous  of  instruction,^^ 
for  the  purpose  of  making  them  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  much  ramified  and  copious  "  oral  law."  The  pupils  were 
called  D'l'O^ri,  or  more  fully  D^^3n  ^7;?D^ri.-'3  r^j^^  instruction 
consisted  of  an  indefatigable  continuous  exercise  of  the  memory. 
For  the  object  being  that  the  pupils  should  remember  with 
accuracy  the  entire  matter  with  its  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  minutiae,  and  the  oral  law  being  never  committed  to  writing, 
the  instruction  could  not  be  confined  to  a  single  statement. 
The  teacher  was  obliged  to  repeat  his  matter  again  and  again 
with  his  pupils.  Hence  in  Eabbinic  diction  "  to  repeat " 
(njB'  =r  Bevrepovv)  means  exactly  the  same  as  "  to  teach " 
(whence  also  niC'b  —  teaching).''^  This  repetition  was  not 
however  performed  by  the  teacher  only  delivering  his  matter. 
The  whole  proceeding  was,  on  the  contrary,  disputational. 
The  teacher  brought  before  his  pupils  several  legal  questions 
for  their  decision  and  let  them  answer  them  or  answered  them 
liimself.  The  pupils  were  also  allowed  to  propose  questions 
to  the  teacher.^""  This  form  of  catechetical  lecture  has  left 
its  mark  upon  the  style  of  the  Mishna,  the  question  being 
frequently  started  how  this  or  that  subject  is  to  be  under- 

51  Ahoth  i.  1.  5^  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  xxxiii.  2. 

53  Pcsachim  iv.  5  ;  Joma  i.  6  ;  Sukka  ii.  1  ;  ChcKjiga  i.  8  ;  Nedarim  x.  4  ; 
Sota  i.  3  ;  Sanhedrin  iv.  4,  xi.  2  ;  Makkoih  ii.  5  ;  Abotk  v.  12  ;  Horajoth 
iii.  8  ;  Negahn  xii.  5.  Pupils  e.g.  of  Rabban  Jobanan  ben  Sakkai  {Ahoth 
ii.  8),  of  Rabbau  Gamaliel  II.  {Beraclioth  ii.  5-7),  of  R.  Isuiael  {Eruhin  ii.  6), 
R.  Akiba  (Nidda  viii.  3),  pupils  of  the  school  of  Shammai  {Orla  ii.  5,  12), 
are  severally  mentioned.  The  appellation  nnn  for  one  who  has  fiinshed 
his  study  of  the  laAv,  but  has  not  yet  obtained  any  publicly  acknowledged 
position,  belongs  to  the  later  Middle  Ages.  In  the  Mislina  the  word  has 
quite  another  meaning.     See  §  26. 

5*  Comp.  Hierouymus,  Epist.  121  ad  Algasiam,  quaest.  x.  (Opp.  ed. 
Vallarsi,  i.  884  sq.)  :  Doctores  eorum  aoipoi  hoc  est  sapientes  vocantur.  Et 
si  quando  certis  diebus  traditioues  suas  exponunt  discipulis  suis,  golent 
dicere  :  oi  co(pol  if.vrspüaiy,  id  est  sapientes  docent  traditiones. 

5^  See  Lightfoot  and  Wetzstein  on  I,uke  ii.  46. 


§  2.3.    SCTJBISM.  325 

stood  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  decision.^^  All  knowledge 
of  the  law  being  strictly  traditional,  a  pupil  had  only  two 
duties.  One  was  to  keep  everything  faithfully  in  memory. 
li.  Dosthai  said  in  the  name  of  li.  Meir :  He  who  forgets  a 
tenet  of  his  instruction  in  tlie  law,  to  him  the  Scripture 
imputes  the  wilful  forfeiture  of  his  life.^^  The  second  duty 
was  never  to  teach  anything  otherwise  than  it  had  been 
delivered  to  him.  Even  in  expression  he  was  to  confine  him- 
self to  the  words  of  his  teacher :  "  Every  one  is  bound  to 
teach  with  the  expressions  of  his  teacher,"  IVu'pn  "iDi?  D"ix  I'n 
is"}.^  It  was  the  highest  praise  of  a  pupil  to  be  "  like  a  well 
lined  with  lime,  which  loses  not  one  drop."  ^^ 

For  these  theoretical  studies  of  the  law,  whether  the 
disputations  of  the  scribes  with  each  other  or  instruction 
properly  so  called,  there  were  in  the  period  of  the  ]\Iishna, 
and  probably  also  so  early  as  the  times  of  the  New  Test., 
special  localities,  the  so-called  "  houses  of  teaching "  (Heb. 
Knnan  n^n,  phu-.  niDnnp  'ns).'"'  They  are  often  mentioned  in 
conjunction  with  the  synagogues  as  places,  which  in  legal 
respects  enjoyed  certain  privileges.*'^  In  Jabne  a  locality 
which  was  called  "  the  vineyard "  (pIP.)  is  mentioned  as  a 
place  of  meeting  of  the  learned,  from  which  however  we 
cannot   infer,   that   D").?  was  in  general  a  poetic  term  for   a 

fi"  E.[/.  Bcrachoth  i.  1-2  ;  Pea  iv.  10,  vi.  8,  vii.  3,  4,  viii.  1  ;  Kilajim  ii.  2, 
iv.  1,  2,  3,  vi.  1,  5;  Shehlith  i.  1,  2,  5,  ii.  1,  iii.  1,  2,  iv.  4.  The  question 
is  very  frequently  introduced  by  *iv^3  (=how?)  :  Berachoth  vi.  1,  vii.  3  ; 
Demai  v.  1  ;  Terumoth  iv.  9  ;  Ufaaser  sliciii  iv.  4,  v.  4  ;  Challa  ii.  8  ;  Orla 
ii.  2,  iii.  8  ;  Bil-km-im  iii.  1,  2  ;  Eruhin  v.  1,  viii.  1. 

^>  Ahoth  iii.  8.  ■''-   Ehiiolh  i.  3. 

69  Aboth  ii.  8.     Comp,  also  Gfrörer,  Das  JaJirh.  fics  IIcils,  i.  168-173. 

^0  Berachoth  iv.  2  ;  Demai  ii.  3,  vii.  5  ;  *Tcnnnoth  xi.  10  ;  Shabbath  xvi.  1, 
xviii.  1  ;  *Pesachhn  iv.  4  ;  Beza  iii.  5;  Aboth  v.  14:  Mcitachoth  x.  9  ; 
Jadajim  iv.  3,  4.  In  the  passages  marked  *  the  plural  form  occurs.  On 
other  designations  of  the  house  of  teaching,  see  Vitringa,  De  si/nagoga 
vetere,  p.  133  sqq. 

''1  Terumoth  xi.  10  ;  Pcsachim  iv.  4.  It  is  evident  from  both  passages, 
that  the  houses  of  teaching  were  lUnlluct  from  the  synafiofiiics.  On  the  hiuh 
estimation  in  which  the^e  houses  of  teaching  were  held,  see  also  llambuigcr, 
Real-Enctjd.  ii.  075-677,  art.  '^  Lehrhaus." 


326  §  25.    SCWBISM. 

house  of  teacliing.^^  In  Jerusalem  indeed  the  catechetical 
lectures  were  held  "  in  the  temple  "  (eV  tm  lepw,  Luke  ii.  46  ; 
Matt.  xxi.  23,  xxvi.  55  ;  Mark  xiv.  49  ;  Luke  xx.  37;  John 
xviii.  20),  i.e.  in  the  colonnades  or  some  other  space  of  the 
outer  court.  The  pupils  sat  on  the  ground  during  the  instruc- 
tion (y\P,P^)  of  the  teacher,  who  was  on  an  elevated  place 
(hence  Acts  xxii.  3  :  Trapa  rov<i  7ro8a?  Tafidkit]X ;  comp,  also 
Luke  ii.  46).«' 

3.  A  third  duty,  which  equally  belonged  to  the  calling  of 
the  scribes,  was  passing  sentence  in  the  court  of  justice. 
Their  acquaintance  with  the  law  being  a  professional  one, 
their  votes  could,  not  but  be  of  influential  importance. 
It  is  true  that  at  least  during  the  period  under  considera- 
tion, a  special  and  scholarly  acquaintance  with  the  law 
was  by  no  means  essential  to  the  office  of  a  judge.  Any 
one  might  be  a  judge,  who  was  appointed  such  through  the 
conlidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  And  it  may  be  supposed, 
that  the  small  local  courts  were  for  the  most  part  lay  courts. 
It  was  nevertheless  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  confidence 
should  be  placed  in  a  judge  in  proportion  as  he  was 
distinguished  for  a  thorough  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the 

''^  Keihuhoth  iv.  6 ;  Ediijoth  ii.  4.  According  to  the  connection  of  the 
two  passages,  013  was  a  place  where  the  learned  were  accustomed  to 
assemble  in  Jabne  (K.  Eleasar  and  R.  Ismael  delivered  this  and  that  hefore 
the  learned  in  the  vineyard  at  Jaime').  It  is  probable  that  an  actual  vine- 
yard with  a  house  or  court,  which  served  as  a  place  of  meeting,  is  intended. 
The  traditional  explanation  tries  indeed  to  deduce  the  appellation  from  the 
circumstance,  that  in  the  house  of  teaching  the  onv^i^ri  sat  in  rows  like 
vine  plants  (so  already  Jer.  Berachoth  iv.  fol.  7<l  in  Levy,  Neuhehr.  Wörtcrh. 
ii.  408,  and  after  this  the  commentators  of  the  Misbua,  see  Surenhusius' 
edition  iii.  70,  iv.  332).  See,  on  the  contrary,  Dercnbourg,  Hiatoire  de  la 
Palestine,  p.  380,  note  3. 

''^  According  to  later  Talmudic  tradition,  the  sitting  on  the  ground  on 
the  part  of  scholars  was  not  customary  till  after  the  death  of  Gamaliel  I.  ; 
in  earlier  times  they  used  to  stand  (Megilla  21a,  in  Lightfoot,  Horae 
hehraicae  on  Luke  ii.  46).  The  whole  tradition  however  is  merely  an 
explanation  of  Sota  ix.  15  :  "  Since  Rabban  Gamaliel  the  elder  died, 
reverence  for  the  law  has  disappeared."  See,  on  the  other  hand,  beside 
Luke  ii.  46,  Aboth  i.  4,  according  to  which  Joses  ben  Joeser  already  said, 
one  ought  to  let  oneself  be  covered  with  dust  at  the  feet  of  the  wise. 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  327 

law.  So  far  then  as  men  learned  in  the  law  were  to  be 
found,  it  is  self-evident  that  such  would  be  called  to  the 
office  of  judge.  With  respect  to  the  great  Sanhedrim  at 
Jerusalem,  it  is  expressly  testified  in  the  New  Testament,  that 
^pa/xfiaret'?  also  were  among  those  who  were  its  members 
(comp,  above,  p.  177  sq.).  After  the  fall  of  the  Jewish  State, 
A.D.  70,  the  authority  of  the  Eabbis  increased  in  independent 
importance  in  this  respect  also.  Being  now  recognised  as 
independent  legislators,  they  were  also  regarded  as  independent 
judfjcs.  Their  sentences  were  voluntarily  acquiesced  in,  whether 
they  gave  judgment  collectively  or  individually.  Thus  it  is 
e.g.  related,  that  IL  Akiba  once  condemned  a  man  to  400  sus 
(denarii)  as  compensation  for  uncovering  his  head  to  a 
u'oman  in  the  street.** 

This  threefold  activity  of  the  scribes  as  men  learned  in 
the  law  formed  their  chief  and  special  calling.  But  the  Holy 
Scriptures  are  something  besides  law.  Even  in  the  Penta- 
teuch narrative  occupies  a  wide  space,  while  the  contents 
of  other  books  are  almost  exclusively  either  historical  or 
didactic.  This  fact  always  remained,  customary  as  it  was  to 
look  upon  the  whole  chiefly  from  the  view-point  of  law. 
These  Scriptures  then  being  also  deeply  studied,  it  was 
impossible  not  to  let  history  be  spoken  of  as  history  and 
religious  edification  as  such.  What  however  was  common 
in  the  treatment  of  these  Scriptures  and  those  of  the  law 
was,  that  they  too  were  dealt  with  as  a  sacred  text,  a 
sacred  standard,  which  was  not  only  to  be  deeply  studied,  but 
which  had  also  to  be  subjected  to  a  complete  elaboration.  As 
the  law  was  more  and  more  developed,  so  also  was  the  sacred 
history  and  the  religious  instruction  further  developed,  and 
that  always  in  connection  with  the  text  of  Scripture,  which 
just  in  its  quality  of  a  sacred  text  silently  invited  to  such 
deep  investigation.  In  such  development  the  notions  of  sub- 
sequent times  had,  of  course,  a  very  important  influence  in 
modifying  results.  Histor}^  and  dogma  were  not  merely  further 
''*  Baha  kamma  viii.  8. 


328  §  2.J.    SCKIBISM. 

developed,  but  fashioned  according  to  the  views  of  after  times. 
This  gave  rise  to  what  is  usually  called  the  Haggadah.*'"  It  is 
true  that  it  did  not  belong  to  the  special  province  of  teachers 
of  the  law  to  occupy  themselves  therewith.  But  since  the 
manipulation  of  the  law  and  that  of  the  historical  religious 
and  ethical  contents  of  the  sacred  text  arose  from  a  kindred 
exigency,  it  was  a  natural  result,  that  both  should  be  effected 
by  the  same  persons.  As  a  rule  the  learned  occupied  them- 
selves with  both,  though  some  distinguished  themselves  more 
in  the  former  and  others  more  in  the  latter  department. 

In  their  double  quality  of  men  learned  in  the  law  and 
learned  in  the  "  Haggadah,"  the  scribes  were  also  qualified 
above  others  for  delivering  lectures  and  exhortations  in  the 
synagogius.  These  were  not  indeed  confined  to  appointed 
persons.  Any  one  capable  of  so  doing  might  stand  up  to 
teach  in  the  synagogue  at  the  invitation  of  the  ruler  (see 
§  27).  But  as  in  courts  of  justice  the  learned  doctors  of  the 
law  were  preferred  to  the  laity,  so  too  in  the  synagogue  their 
natural  superiority  asserted  itself. 

To  the  juristic  and  haggadic  elaboration  of  Holy  Scripture, 
was  added  a  third  kind  of  occupation  therewith,  viz.  the  care 
of  the  text  of  Scripture  as  such.  The  higher  the  authority  of 
the  sacred  text,  the  more  urgent  was  the  necessity  for  its  con- 
scientious and  unadulterated  preservation.  From  this  necessity 
originated  all  those  observations  and  critical  notes  subsequently 
comprised  under  the  name  of  the  Massora  (the  computation 
of  verses,  words  and  letters,  orthographical  notes,  critical 
remarks  on  the  text,  and  such  like).  This  work  however  was 
mainly  the  labour  of  a  later  period.  During  that  with  which 
we  are  occupied  its  first  beginnings  had  at  most  been  made.^^ 

•'^  For  further  particulars,  see  No.  3. 

^^  Comp,  on  the  Massora,  Strack  in  Herzog's  Real-Fncijcl.,  2nd  ed.  ix. 
388-394.  Reuss,  Gcsch.  der  heiligen  Schriften  A.  T:  s,  §  581,  and  the  litera- 
ture cited  by  both  ;  also  Hamburger,  Real-Fnajd.  ii.  1211-1220  (art.  "Text 
der  Bibel ").  Only  isolated  remarks,  which  perhaps  belong  to  the  subject, 
are  found  in  the  Mishna,  Pesachim  ix.  2  (that  a  point  stands  over  the  n  in 
npm,  Num.  ix.  10)  ;  Sota  v.  5  (that  the  n5  in  Job  xiii.  15  may  mean 


§  -25.  sciUBis.v.  329 


III.    HALACHAII  AND  HAGGADAH. 

The  Literature. 

Surenhusius,    Bi'ßhoi  >c«tT«>.A«y-^f    in   quo   secundum   veterum    theolor/orum 

Hehraeorum  formiiUis  cdkgdndi  ct  modos  interpretandl  conc'diantur  loca 

ex  V.  in  N.  T.  alUcjata  (Amstelodami  171o),  especially  pp.  57-88. 
Wachner,  Antiquitates  Ehraeorum,  vol.  i.  1743,  p.  o53  sqq. 
Döpke,  Hermeneutik  der  ncutestamcntlichen  Schriftsteller,  part  i.  1829. 
Hartmaiin,  Die  enge  Verbindung  des  Alten  Testaments  mit  dem  Neuen  (1831), 

pp.  384-731. 
Zunz,  Die  gottesdienstlichen  Vorträge  der  Juden,  historisch  entwickelt,  Berlin 

1832. 
Hirschfeld,  Der  Geist  der  tahnudischen  Auslegung  der  Bibel.     Erster  Thl. 

Halachischc,  Exegese  1840.      The  same,  Der  Geist  der  ersten  Schrift- 
auslegungen oder  die  hagadische  Exegese,  1847. 
Frankel,    Vorstudien    zu    der   Septuagiuta    (lieipzig    1841),    pp.    163-203, 

especially  pp,  179-191.    The  same,  L'eher  elen  Einßuss  der  pcdiistinischcn 

Exegese  auf  die  alexandrinische  Hermeneutik,  Leipzig  1851  (354,  p.  8). 

The  same,    Ueber  pedüstinische  und  ulexandrinischen  Schriftforsehung, 

Breslau  1854  (42,  p.  4). 
Weite,  Geist  und  Werth  der  altralbinischen  Schriftauslegung  (Tüb.  Theol. 

Quartaischriß,  1842,  pp.  19-58). 
Keuss,   Gesch.  der  heil.  Schriften  Neuen   Testaments,  §  502-505   {iiber  die 

Auslegung  des  A.  T.  bei  den  Juden). 
Diestel,  Gesch.  des  Alten  Testamentes  in  der  christlichen  Kirche  (1869),  pp. 

6-14. 
Herzfcld,  Geschichte  des  ]'olkes  Jisrael,  iii.  137  ff.,  226-263. 
Jost,  Geschichte  des  Judenthums  und  seiner,  Secten  i.  90  ff.,  227-288. 
Geiger,    Urschrift  und  Uehersetzungen  der  Bibel  in  ihrer  Abhängigkeit  von 

der  inneren  Entwickelung  des  Judenthums,  Leipzig  1857. 
Pressel,  "  Rabbinismus,"  iu  Herzog's  Real-Encycl,  1st  ed.  vol.  xii.  (1860), 

pp.  470-487. 
Hausrath,  Neutestamentl.  Zeitgeschichte,  2i)d  ed.  i.  80-113. 
Freudcnthal,  Hellenistische  Studien  (1875),  pp.  66-77  (on  the  influence  of 

Hellenism  upon  the  Palestinian  Midiash,  see  also  Geiger,  Jiid.  Zeitschr. 

xi.  1875,  p.  227  sqq.). 
Siegfried,  Philo  von  Alexandria  (1875),  p.  142  sqq.  (on  the  mutual  influence 

of  the  Palestinian  and  Alexandrian  theology  and  exegesis). 
Bacher,  Die  Agada  der  babylonischen  Amoräer,  1878. 

Bacher,  Die  Agada  der  Tannaiten  (Grätz'  Monat.^schrift  für   Gesch.  und 
Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  1882-1884).     Also  separately  under  the  title, 

"him"  or  "not").  When  R.  Akiba  says,  Aboth  iii.  13,  that  the  nib^D  is 
"  a  fence  about  the  Thorah,"  niDD  means  not  the  critico-textual,  but  the 
Halachic  tradition  ;  see  Strack,  p.  388. 


330  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

Die  Agada  der  Tannaiten,  vol.  i.     From  Hillel  to  Akiba,  Strasbourg 

1884. 
Weber,   System  der  altsynae/ogalen  palüstin.    Theologie    (1880),  especially 

pp.  88-121. 
Reuss,   Gesch.  der  heiligen   Schriften   Alten   Testaments  (1881),  §  411-415, 

582-584. 
Hamburger,  Beal-Enc.für  Bibel  und  Tcdmud,  Div.  ii.  (1883)  art.  "  Agada" 

(pp.  19-27),  "Allegorie"   (pp.  50-53),    "Exegese"  (pp.  181-212), 

"Geheimlehre"  (pp.  257-278),  "  Halacha"  (pp.  338-353),  "Kabbala" 

(pp.  557-603),  "Mystik"  (pp.  816-819),  " Rabbinismus "  (pp.  944- 

956),  "Recht"  (pp.  969-980). 

1.    IVic  Halacliali. 

The  theoretical  labours  of  the  scribes  were,  as  has  been 
already  remarked  in  the  preceding  section,  of  a  twofold  kind, 
— 1.  the  development  and  establishment  of  the  law,  and  2. 
the  manipulation  of  the  historical  and  didactic  portions  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  The  former  developed  a  law  of  custom 
beside  the  written  Thorah,  called  in  Eabbinical  language  the 
Halachah  ("^^pn,  properly  that  which  is  current  and  customary). 
The  latter  produced  an  abundant  variety  of  historical  and 
didactic  notions,  usually  comprised  under  the  name  of  the 
Haggadah  or  Agadah  (^"^^J]  or  i^"]^^,  properly  narrative,  legend). 
The  origin,  nature  and  contents  of  both  have  now  to  be  more 
fully  discussed. 

Their  common  foundation  is  the  investigation  or  exposition 
of  the  Biblical  text,  Hebr.  K^1'=i.^''      By  investigation  however 

"''  ^-\'r\  is  found  iu  the  Mishna  in  the  following  constructions : — 1.  To 
investigate,  to  explain  a  passage  or  portion  of  Scripture,  the  accusative  object 
being  either  expressed  or  to  be  mentally  supplied,  ßerachoth  i.  5 ; 
Pesachim  x.  4:,ßn.j  Shekalim  i.  4,  v.  1  ;  Joma  i.  6  ;  Megilla  ii.  2  ;  Sota  v.  1, 
2,  3,  4,  5,  ix.  15;  Sanhedrm  xi.  2.  2.  with  3  in  the  same  sense  "to  give 
explanations  of  a  passage,"  Chagiga  ii.  1.  3.  "To  find  or  discover  a 
doctrine  by  investigation,"  e.g.  J)o  tiHT  if  nSi  "he  discovered  this  from 
such  and  such  a  passage  "  (Joma  viii.  9),  or  without  jo  {Jehamoth  x.  3  ; 
Chullin  V.  5),  or  in  the  combination  Ci>"^'^  ^niD  PIT^  "Such  or  such  a  one 
gave  this  explanation"  (>heJcalim  vi.  6  ;  Kethuhoth  iv.  6).  The  substantive 
formed  from  t^iT  is  K'no,  investigation,  explanation,  elaboration  {Shekalim 
vi.  6  ;  Kethuhoth  iv.  6  ;  Nedarim  iv.  3  ;  Ahoth  i.  17)  ;  also  in  the  combination 
ti'llDn  n"'3,  see  above,  note  60,    It  is  already  found  2  Chron.  xiii.  22,  24,  26. 


§  25.    SCltlßlSM.  331 

^vas  not  meant  historical  exegesis  in  the  modern  sense,  but 
the  search  after  new  information  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
existing  text.  The  inquiry  was  not  merely  what  the  text 
in  question  according  to  the  tenor  of  its  words  might  say,  but 
also  what  knowledge  might  be  obtained  from  it  by  logical 
inference,  by  combination  with  other  passages,  by  allegorical 
exegesis  and  tlie  like.  The  kind  and  method  of  investigation 
was  different  in  the  treatment  of  the  law  and  in  that  of  the 
historical  and  dogmatico-ethic  portions,  and  comparatively 
stricter  in  the  former  tlian  in  the  latter. 

The  Halacliic  Midrash  (i.e.  the  exegetic  development  of 
passages  of  the  law)  had  first  of  all  to  regard  only  the  extent 
and  range  of  the  several  commands.  It  had  to  ask :  to  what 
cases  in  actual  life  the  precept  in  question  applied,  wliat  con- 
sequences it  in  general  entailed,  and  what  was  to  be  done, 
that  it  might  be  strictly  and  accurately  observed  according  to 
its  full  extent.  Hence  the  commandments  were  split  and  split 
again  into  the  subtlest  casuistic  details,  and  care  was  taken 
by  the  most  comprehensive  precautionary  measures,  that  no 
kind  of  accidental  circumstance  should  occur  in  observing 
them,  which  might  be  regarded  as  an  infringement  of  their 
absolutely  accurate  fulfilment.  The  legal  task  was  not,  how- 
ever, exhausted  by  this  analysis  of  the  existing  text.  There 
w'ere  also  many  difficulties  to  solve,  some  arising  from  internal 
contradictions  in  the  legal  code  itself,  some  from  the  incon- 
gruity of  certain  legal  requirements  with  the  actual  circum- 
stances of  life ;  others,  and  these  the  most  numerous,  from  the 
incompleteness  of  the  written  law.  To  all  such  questions 
scholars  had  to  seek  for  an  answer :  it  was  their  business  to 
obviate  existing  discrepancies  by  establishing  an  authoritative 
explanation ;  to  point  out  how,  when  the  observance  of  a 
precept  was  eitlier  impossible,  difficult,  or  inconvenient,  by 
reason  of  the  actual  relations  of  life,  a  compromise  might 
nevertheless  be  made  with  the  letter  of  its  requirements ;  and 
lastlj',  to  find  for  all  those  cases  of  actual  occurrence,  which 
were   not   directly  regulated   by  the  written   law,  some  legal 


332  §  2.5.    SCEIEIS-M. 

direction  when  the  need  for  such  should  arise.  This  last 
department  especially  furnished  an  inexhaustible  source  of 
labour  for  juristic  discussion.  Again  and  again  did  ques- 
tions arise  concerning  which  the  written  or  hitherto 
appointed  law  gave  no  direct  answer,  and  to  reply  to 
which  became  therefore  a  matter  of  juristic  discussion. 
For  answering  such  questions  two  means  were  actually 
at  their  disposal,  viz.  inference  from  already  recognised 
dogmas  and  the  establishment  of  an  already  existing  tradi- 
tion. The  latter,  so  far  as  it  could  be  determined,  was  of 
itself  decisive. 

Scientific  exegesis  (Midrash)  was  thus  by  no  means  the 
only  source  for  the  formation  of  a  legal  code.  A  consider- 
able portion  of  what  subsequently  became  valid  law  had  on  the 
whole  no  point  of  connection  with  the  Thorah,  but  was  at  first 
only  manner  and  custom.  This  or  that  had  been  done  thus  or 
thus,  and  so  imperceptibly  custom  grew  into  a  law  of  custom. 
When  anything  in  the  legal  sphere  had  been  so  long  usual 
that  it  could  be  said,  it  has  always  been  thus,  it  was  law  by 
custom.  It  was  then  by  no  means  necessary  that  its  deduc- 
tion from  the  Thorah  should  be  proved ;  ancient  tradition  was 
as  such  already  binding.  And  the  recognised  teachers  of  the 
law  were  enjoined  and  competent  to  confirm  this  law  of 
custom. 

Prom  these  two  sources  there  grew  up  in  the  course  of 
time  a  multitude  of  legal  decisions  by  the  side  of,  and  of  equal 
authority  with,  the  written  Thorah.  These  were  all  comprised 
under  the  common  notion  of  the  Halacliah,  i.e.  the  law  of  custom. 
For  what  was  discovered  by  scientific  investigation  was,  when 
it  obtained  validity,  also  law  by  custom,  '^i^ü/^  Hence  valid 
•58  This  comprehensive  notion  of  the  ns^n  appears  from  the  following 
passages:  Pea  ii.  6,  iv.  1,  2;  Orla  iii.  9;  Shahhath  i.  4;  Chagiga  L  8; 
Jebamoth  viii.  3  ;  Nedarim  iv.  3  ;  Edujotli  i.  5,  viii.  7  ;  Ahoth  iii.  11,  18, 
V.  8  ;  Kerithoth  iii.  9  ;  Jadajim  iv.  3,  fn.  "Jewish  custom,"  n'''Tin''  JTl 
(Kethuhoth  vii.  G),  is  synonymous  with  |*"1X  T]"n  (KiddiLshin  i.  10),  and 
as  only  designating  the  conventional,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
Halachah. 


§  25.    SCKIBISM.  333 

law  now  included  two  main  categories,  the  written  Thorah 
and  the  Halachah/^  which,  till  at  least  towards  the  close  of  the 
period  with  which  we  are  occupied,  was  propagated  only  orally. 
Within  the  Halachah  there  are  again  different  categories : 
(1)  single  Halachoth  (traditional  enactments)  decidedly  traced 
back  to  Moses  ;^"  (2)  the  great  body  or  Halachah  proper; 
(3)  certain  enactments  which  are  designated  as  the  "  cq'tpoint- 
ments  of  the  scribes"  (ü"'"isiD  ^i:?"n).'^  All  three  categories  are  of 
legal  obligation.  But  their  authority  nevertheless  differs 
in  degree  according  to  the  above  sequence,  those  of  the  first 
class  being  highest,  and  those  of  the  third  relatively  lowest. 
For  while  the  Halachah  in  general  was  regarded  as  having  been 
at  all  times  valid,  there  was  with  regard  to  the  Q'^'ioiD  '•liTiT  the 
conviction,  that  they  were  first  introduced  by  the  successors 
of  Ezra,  viz.  by  the  D'''isiD.'-  There  was  in  general,  in  the 
period  of  the  Mishna,  a  perfect  consciousness  that  many  tradi- 
tional ordinances  had  no  kind  of  foundation  in  the  Thorah, 
and  that  others  were  connected  with  it  by  the  slightest  of 
ties."     Nevertheless  the  law  of  custom  was  quite  as  binding 

'■^  min  or  \!ir\[>'0  (writing)  and  riDPn  are  distinguished,  f. 7.  in  Orla\\\.^\ 
Chagirja  i.  8 ;  Nedarim  iv.  3.  So  too  are  Kip?D  and  T^'^^y^  (the  teaching 
of  the  law),  Kiddushin  i.  10. 

'"  Such  ij^Di:)  n^'u?  niD?n  are  mentioned  in  the  Mislina  in  three  passages: 
I'en  ii.  6;  Edujnth  \\\\.  7;  Jadajim  iv.  3,^«.  There  are  altogether  from 
fifty  to  sixty  in  the  Rabbinical-Talmudic  literature. 

'•^  Orla  iii.  9  ;  Jchamoth  ii.  4,  ix.  3 ;  Hanhcdrlti  xi.  o ;  Para  xi.  4-6 ; 
Tohoroth  iv.  7  ;  Jadajim  iii.  2.     Comp,  also  Kelim  xiii.  7  ;   Tehuljom  iv.  6. 

'2  That  the  QnaiD  ''Ml  had  relatively  less  authority  than  the  Halachah 
simply,  is  evident  from  Orla  iii.  9  (where  it  is  quite  unjustifiable  to  Supple- 
ment na^n  by  ^TDD  HETD^).  On  the  recent  date  of  the  D"'"iaiD  """lai,  comp, 
especially  Kelim  xiii.  7  ;  I^juI  jom  iv.  6 :  D^lDlD  VJ^n  cnn  "131. 

^^  Compare  especially  the  remarkable  passage,  Chafjic/a  i.  8 :  "  Release 
from  a  vow  is  a  dogma  which  hovers,  as  it  were,  in  the  air,  for  there  is 
nothing  in  Scripture  on  which  it  can  be  founded.  The  laws  concerning 
the  Sabbath,  the  festival  sacrifices,  and  the  defrauding  (of  sacred  things 
by  misuse),  are  like  mountains  hanging  by  a  hair,  for  there  are  few  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  and  many  laws  of  custom  (ni3S"l)  concerning  them.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  civil  laws  (pyi),  the  laws  of  ritual,  the  laws  concerning 
uncleanness  and  incest,  are  entirely  founded  on  Scripture,  and  form  the 
essential  contents  of  the  (written)  Thorah." 


So 4.  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

as  the  written  Thorali ;  ^*  nay,  it  was  even  decided  that  oppo- 
sition to  the  D''~)ii"iD  "•"131  was  a  lieavier  transgression  than 
opposition  to  the  decrees  of  the  Thorah ;  ''^  because  the  former, 
being  the  authentic  exposition  and  completion  of  the  latter, 
were  therefore  in  fact  the  ultimate  authority. 

It  was  in  the  nature  of  the  Halachah  that  it  never  could  be 
a  thing  finished  and  concluded.  The  two  sources,  whence  it 
arose,  were  continually  flowing  onwards.  Xew  enactments  were 
always  being  evolved  by  successive  scientific  exegesis  (Midrash), 
and  new  customs  might  always  arise  as  usage  differed.  Both, 
when  they  had  attained  prescriptive  right,  became  Halachah,  the 
extent  of  which  might  thus  be  enlarged  ad  infinitum.  But  at 
each  stage  of  development  a  distinction  was  always  made 
between  what  was  already  valid  and  what  was  only  discovered 
ly  the  scientific  inferences  of  the  Bahhis,  between  na^n  and  H 
(to  judge).  Only  the  former  was  legally  binding,  the  latter 
in  and  of  itself  not  as  yet  so.'*  Not  till  the  majority  of  the 
learned  had  decided  in  their  favour  were  such  tenets  binding 
and  henceforth  admitted  into  the  Halachah.  For  the  majority 
of  those  distinguished  for  learning  was  the  decisive  trihnnaV^ 
Hence  the  Q"'p3n  nni  were  also  to  be  kept  as  binding.^*  It  is 
self-evident  however,  that  this  principle  applies  only  to  such 
cases  as  were  not  decided  by  an  already  valid  Halachah.  For 
concerning  any  matter  for  which  a  Halachah  is  in  existence 
this  must  be  unconditionally  obeyed,  though  ninety-nine 
should  be  against  and  only  one  for  it.'^^  By  the  help  of  this 
principle  of  the  majority  the  great  difiiculty  which  arose 
through  the  separation  of  the  schools  of  Hillel  and  Shammai 
was  overcome  (see  No.  4).  So  long  as  the  differences  between 
the  two  were  not  reconciled,  the  conscientious  Israelite  must 

'>^  Comp,  especially,  Aboth  iii.  11,  v.  8. 

'5  Sanhedrin  xi.  3  :  min  "'"l^nsn  D"'12iD  nnnn  IDin. 

''"  See  especially,  Jehamoth  viii.  8  ;  KeritJiotli  iii.  9.  The  niD/TI  and 
Un*1D  are  therefore  disriiiguished  from  each  other  as  two  kinds  of  subjects 
of  instruction.     Nedarim  iv.  3. 

'■"  Shabbath  i.  4  sqq. ;  Ednjoth  i.  4-6,  v.  7  ;  JJickwaoth  iv.  1 ;  Jadajim 
iv.  1,  3.  ^8  Necjaim  ix.  3,  xi.  7.  "  Pea  iv.  1-2. 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  335 

have  been  in  great  perplexity  which  to  adhere  to.  The 
majority  here  too  gave  the  final  decision,  whether  it  was  that 
the  schools  themselves  compared  numbers,  and  that  one  was 
outvoted  by  the  other,**"  or  that  subsequent  scholars  settled 
differences  by  their  final  decision." 

The  strictness  with  which  the  uuchangeableness  of  the 
Halachah  was  in  general  proclaimed  might  induce  one  to  sup- 
pose, that  what  was  once  valid  must  remain  unaltered.  But 
there  is  no  rule  without  exception,  nor  was  this  so.  Nor 
indeed  are  the  cases  few  in  which  laws  or  customs  were 
afterwards  altered,  whether  on  purely  theoretical  grounds,  or 
on  account  of  altered  circumstances,  or  because  the  old  custom 
entailed  inconvenience.'*'' 

Widely  as  the  Halachah  differed  from  the  written  Thorah 
the  fiction  was  still  kept  up,  that  it  was  in  reality  nothing  else 
than  an  exposition  and  more  precise  statement  of  the  Thorah 
itself.  The  TJiorah  vxis  still  formally  esteemed  as  the  supreme 
rule  from  ivhich  all  legal  axioms  must  he  derived.^^  Certainly 
the  Halacha  had  its  independent  authority,  and  was  binding, 
even  if  no  scriptural  proof  was  adduced.  Hence,  though  its 
validity  did  not  depend  upon  success  in  finding  a  scriptural 
proof,  it  formed  part  of  the  business  of  the  scribes  to  con- 
firm the  maxim  of  the  Halachah  by  the  Scriptures.**     More 

^^  A  few  cases  are  mentioned  in  which  the  school  of  Hillel  was  outvoted 
by  the  school  of  Shammai,  Shalbalh  i.  4  sqq. ;  Mikwauth  iv.  1. 

8^  As  a  rule  tlie  Mishna,  after  mentioning  the  differences  of  the  two 
schools,  states  the  decision  of  "  scholars." 

^2  Such  innovations  were  e.g.  introduced  hy  Hillel  {SheUith  x.  3  ;  Gittin 
iv.  3  ;  Aracliinij..  4),  Kabban  Gamaliel  {Ro.^h  hashana  n.  b  ;  Gittin  iv.  2-3), 
Rabban  Johanan  ben  Sakkai  {Suklca  iii.  12 ;  Rosh  hashaua  iv.  1,  3,  4  ; 
Snio  ix.  9  ;  Menachoth  x.  .5),  II.  Akiba  (Maa.iei-  sheni  v.  8 ;  Nasir  vi.  1  ; 
Challa  iv.  7  ;  Bikknrim  iii.  7  ;  Shckalini  vii.  5  ;  Joma  ii.  2  ;  Kethuhoth  v.  3  ; 
Ncdarim  xi.  12  ;  Gitlin  v.  0  ;  /'Jihijoth  vii,  2  ;  Teh ii I  join  iv.  5). 

"^  This  holds  good  notwithstanding  the  admission  mentioned  in  note  73. 
See  especially,  Weber,  p.  96  sqq. 

"*  Tliat  this  supplementary  learned  confirmation  of  the  Halachah  often 
referred  to  passages  of  Scripture  entirely  different  to  those  from  which  the 
Halachic  maxims  really  arose,  is  seen,  e.g.  in  the  classic  passage  SShuhhath 
ix.  1-4. 


336  §  25.    SCRIßISM. 

absolute  was  the  demand  for  satisfactory  confirmation  in  the 
case  of  newly  advanced  or  disputed  maxims.  These  could 
only  obtain  recognition  by  methodical  Midrash,  i.e.  by  being 
deduced  in  a  convincing  manner  from  passages  of  Scripture, 
or  from  other  already  acknowledged  propositions.  The  method 
of  demonstration  which  was  in  such  cases  applied,  was  one 
which,  though  it  indeed  appears  somewhat  strange  to  us,  has 
its  rules  and  laws.  A  distinction  was  made  between  the  proof 
proper  (p\^y)  and  the  mere  reference  p^T).^^  Hillcl  is  said  to 
have  laid  down  for  the  proof  proper  seven  rules,  which  may 
\)Q,  called  a  kind  of  Eabbinical  logic.*''  These  seven  rules 
are  as  follows :  (1)  ""^ini  ?;?,  ''  light  and  heavy,"  i.e.  the  infer- 
ence a  minori  ad  maj'ics  ;  ^^  (2)  nvi^  nira,  "  an  equal  decision," 
i.e.  an  inference  from  the  similar,  ex  analogia;^^  (3)  2X  I^jn 
ins  31030,  "  a  main  proposition  from  07ie  passage  of  Scripture," 
i.e.  a  deduction  of  a  main  enactment  of  the  law  from  a 
single  passage  of  Scripture ;  (4)  D''3iri3  ""irö  2X  ]]:2,  "  a  main 
proposition  from  two  passages  of  Scripture ; "  (5)  £3"iQ1 7?3, 
b?p'^  ü'iSi,  "  general  and  particular,"  and  "  particular  and 
general,"  i.e.  a  more  precise  statement  of  the  general  by  the 
particular,  and  of  the  particular  by  the  general;*'  (6)  i3  s>;i''3 

**5  Shahhath  viii.  7,  ix.  4  ;  Saiihcdrin  viii.  2.     Comp.  Weber,  p.  115  sqq. 

^^'  They  ai-e  found  in  the  Tosefta,  Sanhedrin  xii.ßn.  (ed.  Zuckermandel, 
p.  427),  in  the  Aboth  de-Rahbi  Nathan  c.  87,  and  at  the  close  of  the  intro- 
duction to  the  Sifra  (Ugolini,  TJiesaurvs,  vol.  xiv.  595).  The  text  of  the 
Sifra  is,  at  least  according  to  the  edition  of  UgoUni,  defective.  The  correct 
reading  is  found  from  the  almost  verbally  identical  texts  of  the  two  other 
authorities.  Comp.  Hillel  and  his  seven  rules  of  interpretation  in  the  Monats- 
schr.filr  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  1851-52,  pp.  156-162. 

**'■  Examples  in  Berachoth  ix.  5 ;  Shehiith  vii.  2 ;  Beza  v.  2  ;  Jebamoth 
viii.  3  ;  Nasir  vii.  4  ;  Sota  vi.  3  ;  Baba  bathra  ix.  7 ;  Sanhedrin  vi.  5  ; 
Edujoth  vi.  2  ;  Aboth  i.  5  ;  Sebachim  xii.  3 ;  Chidlin  ii.  7,  xii,  3  ;  Becho- 
roth  i.  1 ;  Kerithoth  iii.  7,  8,  9,  10 ;  Necjaim  xii.  5 ;  Machshirin  vi.  8. 

^^  E.g.  Beza  i.  6  :  "  Challah  and  gifts  are  presents  due  to  the  priests,  and 
so  is  the  Terumah.  As  then  the  latter  may  not  be  brought  to  the  priest  on 
a  holy  day,  so  neither  ma,y  the  former."  Another  example  in  Arachiniv.ßn. 
In  both  passages  the  expression  niC'  n"lT3  is  used. 

**■•  In  the  thirteen  Middoth  of  R.  Ismael  this  figure  is  specified  in  eight 
different  manners,  e.g.  by  the  formula  p^3i  0"lD1  ?^3 — "  general  and  parti- 
cular and  general" — i.e.  a  more  precise  «tatoment  of  two  general  cxpres- 


§  2ö.  scRimsM.  337 

"inx  Dip03,  "  by  tlie  similar  in  another  passage,"  i.e.  a  more 
precise  statement  of  a  passage  by  the  help  of  another; 
(7)  i^^^^yo  "Tp^ri  "i^^^,  "  a  thing  which  is  learned  from  its  connec- 
tion," a  more  precise  statement  from  the  context.  These 
seven  rules  were  subsequently  increased  to  thirteen,  the  fifth 
being  specified  in  eight  different  manners,  and  the  sixth 
omitted.  The  laying  down  of  these  thirteen  Middoth  is 
ascribed  to  E.  Ismael.  Their  value  for  the  correct 
interpretation  of  the  law  was  so  highly  esteemed  on 
the  part  of  Eabbinic  Judaism,  that  every  orthodox  Israelite 
recited  them  daily  as  an  integral  element  of  his  morning 
devotions.®** 

The  matter  which  formed  the  subject  of  juristic  investiga- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  scribes  was  in  effect  furnished  by  the 
Thorah  itself.  The  precepts  concerning  the  priestly  sacrifices 
and  religious  usages  in  general  occupy  the  largest  space 
therein.  For  the  peculiarity  of  the  Jewish  law  is,  that  it 
is  pre-eminently  a  kno  of  ritual.  It  seeks  in  the  first  place  to 
establish  by  law  in  what  manner  God  desires  to  be  honoured, 
what  sacrifices  are  to  be  offered  to  Him,  what  festivals  are  to 
be  kept  in  His  honour,  how  His  priests  are  to  be  maintained, 
and  what  religious  rites  in  general  are  to  be  observed.  All 
other  matters  occupy  but  a  small  space  in  comparison  with 
this.  The  motive  whence  all  the  zealous  labours  of  the 
scribes  arose  corresponded  with  this  content  of  the  law :  it 
was  the  desire  to  make  sure  by  an  accurate  expression  of  the 
law,  that  none  of  the  claims  of  God  should  be  violated  in  even 
the  slightest  particular,  but  that  all  should  be  most  conscien- 
tiously observed  to  their  fullest  extent.     The   endeavours  of 

sioDs  by  a  particular  one  intervening,  as  e.g.  Deut.  xiv.  26,  where  the 
general  expression,  "whatever  thy  soul  dusireth,"  used  at  the  beginning 
and  end,  is  limited  by  the  words  "oxen,  sheep,  wine,  intoxicating  drink, 
wliicli  stand  between. 

'.10  Hence  they  are  found  in  every  Jewish  Siddur  (Book  of  Prayers),  as  well 
as  in  the  introduction  to  tlie  SiJ'ra.  Comp.  Wauhner,  Antitpiitatcx  Ehrnc- 
oriim,  i.  422-523.  Pinner's  translation  of  the  treatise,  JJcracholh,  Introd.  fol. 
17b-20a.  Prcssel  in  Herzog's  Jl/al-Enci/cl.,  ed.  1,  xv.  651  sq.  Weber, 
Sij.ilcm  xicr  altsi/narjof/aku  paliist.  Thad.  pp.  106-115. 

mV.  TI.  VOL.  I.  Y 


338  §  25.    SCEIBISM. 

the  scribes  were  therefore  directed  chiefly  to  the  development 
of  (1)  the  precepts  concerning  sacrifices,  tlie  various  kinds  of 
sacrifice,  the  occasions  on  which  it  was  to  be  offered,  the 
manner  of  offering,  and  all  connected  therewith,-  i.e.  of  the 
entire  sacrificial  ritual ;  (2)  the  precepts  concerning  the 
celebration  of  holy  seasons,  especially  of  the  Sabbath  and  the 
annual  festivals — Passover,  Pentecost,  Tabernacles,  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  the  New  Year ;  (3)  the  precepts  concerning 
tribute  for  the  temple  and  priesthood — first-fruits,  heave- 
offerings,  tithes,  the  first-born,  the  half-shekel  tribute,  vows 
and  freewill  offerings  and  whatever  related  to  them — their 
redemption,  valuation,  embezzlement,  etc. ;  and  lastly  (4)  the 
various  other  religious  appointments,  among  which  the  ^precepts 
concerning  clean  and  unclean  occupy  by  far  the  largest  space. 
The  appointments  of  the  law  in  this  last  respect  were  an 
inexhaustible  source  for  the  exercise  of  the  most  minute  and 
conscientious  acuteness  on  the  part  of  the  scribes.  The 
statutes  by  which  it  was  determined,  under  what  circum- 
stances uncleanness  was  incurred,  and  by  what  means  it  might 
be  obviated,  were  truly  endless  and  incalculable.  Such 
religious  decrees  however  by  no  means  formed  the  exclusive 
matter  of  the  labours  of  the  scribes.  For  the  law  of  Moses 
contains  also  the  principles  of  a  criminal  and  civil  law  ;  and 
the  practical  requirements  of  life  offered  occasion  enough  for 
the  further  development  of  these  materials  also.  Of  course 
the  materials  in  question  were  not  all  equally  elaborated. 
The  laws  concerning  marriage  were  the  most  completely 
developed,  partly  because  the  marriage  law  gave  more  oppor- 
tunity, and  partly  because  this  subject  was  the  most  closely 
connected  with  religion.  The  other  departments  of  civil  life 
are  not  treated  with  quite  the  same  fulness  in  the  Mishna  (in 
the  treatises  Bdba  kamma,  Baha  mezia,  and  Baba  hathra),  and 
still  less  is  the  criminal  law  worked  out  (in  the  treatises  San- 
hedrin  and  Mahkotli).  The  department  of  public  law  is  as 
good  as  completely  ignored.  It  is  true  that  the  Thorah  fur- 
nished  but  extremely  little  opportunity  for  its  development, 


§  25.    SCMBISIVL  339 


and  that  such  labour  as  was  expended  on  it  would  have  been 
utterly  useless  by  reason  of  political  circumstances.®^ 

2.  The  Haggada. 

The  Haggadic  Midrafih,  i.e.  the  elaboration  of  the  liistorical 
and  didactic  portions  of  Holy  Scripture,  is  of  an  entirely 
different  kind  from  the  Halachic  Midrash.  While  in  the 
latter  the  treatment  is  pre-eminently  a  development  and 
carrying  on  of  what  is  actually  given  in  the  text,  the  Hag- 
gadic treatment  does  not  take  for  the  most  part  its  content 
from  the  text,  but  interpolates  it  therein.  It  is  an  amplifica- 
tion and  remodelling  of  what  was  originally  given,  according 
to  the  views  and  necessities  of  later  times.  It  is  true,  that 
here  also  the  given  text  forms  the  point  of  departure,  and  that 
a  similar  treatment  to  that  employed  in  passages  from  the  law 
takes  place  in  the  first  instance.  The  history  is  worked  up 
by  combining  the  different  statements  in  the  text  with  each 
other,  completing  one  b}'^  another,  settling  the  chronology, 
etc.  Or  the  religious  and  ethical  parts  are  manipulated  by 
formulating  dogmatic  propositions  from  isolated  prophetic 
utterances,  by  bringing  these  into  relation  to  each  other,  and 
thus  obtaining  a  kind  of  dogmatic  system.  But  this  stricter 
kind  of  treatment  is  overgrown  by  the  much  freer  kind,  wliicli 
deals  in  a  perfectly  unrestrained  manner  with  the  text,  and 
supplements  it  by  additions  of  the  most  arbitrary  and  mani- 
fold kind.  In  other  words,  the  treatment  is  Midrash  in  its 
stricter  sense  in  only  the  smaller  portion,  and  is  on  the  contrary 
and  for  the  most  part  a  free  completion  by  means  of  ^^''J,^, 
i.e.  legends.''^ 

•'^  The  survey  of  the  contcuts  of  the  Mishna  (see  §  3)  furnishes  proof  of 
what  is  stated  above. 

"^•1  Just  as  the  Hulachoh  was  developed  from  Miürash  in  tlie  province  of 
law,  'was  the  Haergadah  developed  from  Midrash  in  the  other  books  of  Scrip- 
ture, only  the  relation  was  in  the  latter  case  a  much  looser  one.  Tiie  ninjS 
are  mentioned  as  an  independent  subject  of  instruction  beside  t^miD  and 
niDt'i"'  in  Nedorim  iv.  3. 


340  §  25.    SCKIBISM, 

A  canonical  book  of  the  Old  Testament,  viz.  the  Book  of 
Chronicles,  furnishes  a  very  instructive  example  of  the 
historical  Midrash.  A  comparison  of  its  narrative  with  the 
parallel  portions  of  the  older  historical  books  (Kings  and 
Samuel)  will  strike  even  the  cursory  observer  with  the  fact 
that  the  chronicler  has  enlarged  the  history  of  the  Jewish 
kings  by  a  whole  class  of  narratives,  of  which  the  older 
documents  have  as  good  as  nothing,  viz.  by  narratives  of  the 
merit  acquired,  not  only  by  David,  but  by  many  other  pious 
kings  through  their  maintenance  of,  and  more  abundant  provision 
for,  the  priestly  ritual.  The  chronicler  is  especially  solicitous  to 
tell  of  the  conscientious  care  of  these  kings  for  the  institutions 
of  public  worship.  In  the  older  documents  scarcely  anything 
is  found  of  these  narratives  which  run  through  the  whole  of 
Chronicles.  It  may  be  said  that  their  absence  in  the  books  of 
Kings  and  Samuel  is  no  proof  of  their  non-historical  nature, 
and  that  the  chronicler  obtained  them  from  other  sources. 
But  the  peculiarity  is,  that  the  very  institutions  for  the 
maintenance  of  which  these  kings  are  said  to  have  been 
distinguished,  belong  in  general  to  the  post-exilian  period,  as 
may,  at  least  in  the  main  points,  be  still  proved  (see  §  24), 
Evidently  then  the  chronicler  dealt  with  the  older  history 
from  a  stated  point  of  sight,  which  appeared  to  him  very 
essential ;  and  as  public  worship  was  the  most  important 
matter  in  his  own  eyes,  the  theocratic  kings  could  not  but 
have  been  distinguished  by  their  interest  in  it.  At  the 
same  time  he  pursues  the  practical  object  of  pointing  out  the 
just  claims  and  high  value  of  these  institutions  by  showing 
the  attention,  which  the  most  illustrious  kings  devoted  to 
them.  The  notion  that  this  was  any  adulteration  of  the 
history,  was  probably  one  which  never  occurred  to  him. 
He  thought  he  was  improving  it  by  treating  it  accord- 
ing to  the  needs  of  his  age.  His  work,  or  rather  the 
larger  work  from  which  our  Books  of  Chronicles  are 
probably  but  an  extract,  is  therefore,  properly  speaking, 
an  historical  Midrash,  as  indeed   it    is    expressly  designated 


§  25.    SCRIDISM.  341 

(^fl^)    by  its    editor    and    abbreviator    (2    Cliron.    xiii,    22, 
xxiv.  27).^^ 

The  method  of  dealing  with  the  sacred  history  here  described 
continued  its  exuberant  growth  to  later  ages  and  went  on 
striking  out  ever  bolder  paths.  The  higher  the  credit  and 
inoportance  of  the  sacred  history  rose  in  the  ideas  of  the  people, 
the  more  thorough  was  the  labour  bestowed  upon  it,  and  the 
more  urgent  was  the  impulse  to  give  more  accuracy,  more 
copious  elaboration  of  details,  and  to  surround  the  whole  with 
a  more  complete  and  brighter  halo.  Especially  were  the 
histories  of  the  patriarchs  and  the  great  lawgiver  more  and 
more  adorned  in  this  fashion.  The  Hellenistic  Jews  were 
particularly  active  in  this  manner  of  working  up  history. 
Nay,  one  might  almost  have  supposed  that  it  had  originated 
with  them,  but  that  the  Books  of  Chronicles  furnish  proof  to 
the  contrary,  and  that  the  whole  method  of  this  ]\lidrash  so 
entirely  corresponds  with  the  spirit  of  Eabbinical  scholarship. 
The  literature,  in  which  the  remains  of  this  Haggadic  treatment 
of  history  are  still  preserved  is  comparatively  copious  and 
varied.  We  find  such  in  the  works  of  the  Hellenists  Demetrius, 
Eupolemus,  Artapanus  (see  concerning  them,  §  33) ;  in  Philo 
and  Josephus,^^  in  the  so-called  Apocalypses,  and  generally  in 
the  pseudepigraphic  literature  ;^  much  also  in  the  Targums 
and  Talmud,  but  most  in  the  JNIidrashim  proper,  which  are 
ex  nrofesso  devoted  to  the  treatment  of  the  sacred  text  (see 
above,  §  3).  Among  these  the  oldest  is  the  so-called  Book 
of  Jubilees,  which  may  rank  as  the  specially  classic  model  of 
this  Haggadic  treatment  of  Scripture.  The  whole  text  of  the 
canonical  Book  of  Genesis  is  here  reproduced  in  such  wise, 

*-  Comp.  "Wellhauseu,  Geschichte  IsracLs,  i.  23G  sq. 

Ö3  On  Josephus,  see  Zunz,  Die  goitesdicnstlichcn  Vorträge  der  Juden, 
p.  120.  On  Philo's  contact  with  the  Palestinian  Midrash,  see  Siegfried, 
Philo  von  Alexandria,  pp.  142-1.^9. 

9*  Comp,  especially,  Fabricius,  Codex  pacudrpigraphux  Vctcris  Tcstamcnti 
(2  vols.  1713-1723),  whose  work  is  so  arranged  that  the  literary  remains 
relating  to  each  Scripture  character  arc  placed  together,  according  to  their 
chronological  order. 


342  §  25.    SCßlBISM. 

that  not  only  are  the  particulars  of  the  history  chronologically 
fixed,  but  also  enlarged  throughout  in  contents,  and  remodelled 
according  to  the  taste  of  after  times.  By  way  of  iUustrating 
this  branch  of  labour  on  the  part  of  the  scribes,  the  following 
few  specimens  are  given.^^ 

The  history  of  the  creation,  e.g.,  is  completed  in  the  follow- 
ing manner :  "  Ten  things  were   created   in  the  twilight   on 
the  evening  before  the   Sabbath — 1.  the  abyss  of  the  earth 
(for  Korah  and  his    company)  ;   2.  the   opening   of  the  well 
(Miriam's) ;   3.  the  mouth  of  the  ass  (Balaam's) ;  4.  the  rain- 
bow;   5.  the  manna  in  the  wilderness;   6.  the  rod  of  Moses; 
7.   the  shamir,   a   worm   which    spits   stones ;    8.    alphabetic 
writing;  9.  the   writing  of  the   tables  of  the   law;  10.    the 
stone  tables.     Some  reckon  with  these :  the  evil  spirits,  the 
grave  of  Moses,  and  our  father  Abraham's  ram ;  and  others  the 
first  tongs  for  the  preparation  of  future  tongs.^*'     A  copious 
circle  of  legends,  with  which  we  are   acquainted  by  means  of 
their   deposits   and   continuations  in  later   Jewish  literature, 
was  formed  concerning  the  life  of  Adam.^^     Enoch,  who  was 
miraculously  translated  to  heaven  by  God,  seemed  especially 
adapted  for  revealing  heavenly  mysteries  to  men.      Hence  a 
book  of  such  revelations  was  ascribed  to  him  towards  the  end 
of  the  second  century  before  Christ  (see  §  32).      Later  legends 
praise  his  piety  and  describe  his  ascension  to  heaven.®*^     The 
Hellenist  Eupolenius   (or  whoever  else  may  be  the  author  of 
the  fragment  in  question)  designates  him  as  the  inventor  of 
astrology .^^     It  is  self-  evident  that  Abraham,  the  ancestor 
of  Israel,  was  a  subject  of  special  interest  for  this  kind   of 

95  Compare  in  general,  Hartmann,  Die  enge  lerhindung,  etc.,  pp. 
464-514.  Herzfeld,  Gesch.  d.  Volkes  Jisrael,  iii.  490-502.  Ewald,  Gesch. 
des  Volkes  Israel,  i.  2!:  6  sqq. 

9"  Ainth  V.  6. 

9"  Fabricius,  Codex  pseudepigr.  i.  1-24,  ü.  1-13.  Hort,  art.  "Adam, 
oooks  of,"  in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography,  vol.  i.  (1877),  pp. 
34-39.     Dillmann  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc,  2iid  ed.  xii.  366  sq. 

»«  Hamburger,  Real-Enc.  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  Div.  ii.  art.  "  He- 
noclisage." 

99  Euseb.  Praep.  evang.  ix.  17. 


§  25.  SCIÜBLSM.  3-13 

historical  treatment  Hellenists  and  Palestinians  took  equal 
pains  with  it.  A  Hellenistic  Jew,  probably  as  early  as  the  third 
century  before  Christ,  wrote,  under  the  name  of  Hecataeus 
of  Abdera,  a  book  concerning  Abraham.-^"'^  According  to 
Artabanus,  Abraham  instructed  Pharethothes,  king  of  Egypt, 
in  astrology."^^  He  was  in  the  eyes  of  Ptabbinic  Judaism  a 
model  of  Pharisaic  piety  and  a  fulfiller  of  the  whole  law,  even 
before  it  was  given.-^°'^  He  victoriously  withstood — it  is  com- 
puted— ten  temptations,^''^  In  consequence  of  his  righteous 
behaviour,  he  received  the  reward  of  all  the  ten  preceding 
generations,  which  they  had  lost  by  their  sin.^°^  Afoses  the 
great  lawgiver  and  his  age  are  surrounded  with  the  brightest 
halo.  The  Hellenists,  in  works  designed  for  heathen  readers, 
represent  him  as  the  father  of  all  science  and  culture.  He 
was,  according  to  Eupolemus,  the  inventor  of  alphabetical 
writing,  which  first  came  from  him  to  the  Phoenicians,  and 
from  tbem  to  the  Greeks.  Artabanus  tells  us  tliat  the 
Egyptians  owed  to  him  their  whole  civilisation.'**  It  is  there- 
fore something  less,  when  it  is  only  said  in  the  Acts,  that  he 
was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  (Acts  vii. 
22),  though  even  this  goes  beyond  the  Old  Testament.  The 
history  of  his  life  and  v>'ork  is  dressed  up  in  the  most  varied 
manner  in  Hellenistic  and  Eabbinic  legends,  as  may  be  seen 
even  from  the  representations  of  Philo  and  Josephus.^*^  The 
names   of  the   Egyptian   sorcerers,   who   were    conquered  by 

^00  Joseph.  Anlt.  i,  7.  2.     Clemens  Alex.  Strom,  v.  14.  113. 
^"^  Euseb.  Praep.  evanr/.  ix.  18.     Comp,  also  on  Abraham  as  an  astro- 
loger, Joseph.  A)dt.  i.  7.  1.     Fabricius,  Codex  psendepigr.  i.  350-378. 

102  Kidduslun  iv.  \A,jin.     Comp.  Nedarim  iii.  11,  n.fin. 

103  Aboth  V.  3.  Book  of  Jubilees  in  Ewald's  Jahrh.  iii.  15  ;  Aboth  de- 
Rabbi  Nathan,  c.  33;  Pirke  de- Rabbi  Elk ser,  c.  26-31;  Tar(/um  Jer.  on 
Gen.  xxii.  1.  Fabricius,  i.  398-400.  Beer,  Leben  Abrahams,  pp.  190-192. 
The  interpreter  of  Aboth  v.  3  (Surenhusius'  Mishna,  iv.  465.  Taylor, 
Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers,  p.  94). 

10*  Aboth  V.  2.  Comp,  generally,  Beer,  Leben  Abraham'' s  nach  Auffassung 
der  jüdischen  Sage,  Leipzig  1859. 

10^  Eupolemus,  Euseb.  Praep.  eiang.  ix.  26  =  Clemens  Alex.  Strom,  i, 
23.  153.     Artabanus,  Euseb.  Praep.  evang.  ix.  27. 

10"  Philo,  Vita  Mosis.     Joseph.  Antt.  ii.-iv.     Compare  generally,  Fabri- 


344  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

Moses  and  Aaron,  are  known  (2  Tim.  iii.  8).  In  the  mariih 
through  the  wilderness,  the  Israelites  were  not  merely  once 
miraculously  provided  with  water  from  a  rock,  but  a  rock 
pouring  forth  water  accompanied  them  during  their  whole 
wandering  in  the  wilderness  (1  Cor.  x.  4).  The  law  was  not 
given  to  Moses  by  God  Himself,  but  reached  him  by  the 
means  of  angels  (Acts  vii.  53  ;  GaL  iii.  19  ;  Heb.  ii.  2).  It 
was  part  of  the  perfection  of  his  revelation  to  have  been 
written  in  seventy  languages  on  stones  set  up  upon  Mount 
Ebal  (Deut.  xxvii.  2  sqq.).^'^'^  The  two  unlucky  days  in  the 
history  of  Israel  being  Tammus  17  and  Ab  9,  the  unfortunate 
events  of  the  Mosaic  age  must  of  course  have  taken  place  on 
one  of  these  two  days ;  on  Tammus  1 7  the  tables  of  the  law 
were  broken,  and  on  Ab  9  it  was  ordained  that  the  generation 
of  Moses  should  not  enter  the  land  of  Canaan.^"^  The  strange 
circumstances  at  the  death  of  Moses  also  furnished  abundant 
material  for  the  formation  of  legends  (Deut.  xxxiv.).^'^^  It  is 
known  that  Michael  the  Archangel  contended  with  Satan  for 
his  body  (Jude  9).  The  history  too  of  the  post-Mosaic  period 
was  manipulated  by  historical  Midrash  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  primitive  history  of  Israel.  To  give  only  a  few  examples 
from  the  New  Testament.  In  1  Chronicles  and  Euth  there 
occurs  in  the  list  of  David's  ancestors  a  certain  Salma  or 
Salmon,  the  father  of  Boaz  (1  Chron.  ii.  11 ;  Euth  iv.  20  sq.). 
The  historical  Midrash  knows,  that  this  Salmon  had  Eahab  for 
his  wife  (Matt.  i.  5)."''  The  drought  and  famine  in  the  days 
of  Elijah  lasted,  according  to  the  historic  Midrash,  three  and  a 

cius,  Codex  pseudepigr.  i.  825-868,  ii.  111-130.  Beer,  Lehen  Closes  nach 
Auffassung  der  jüdischen  Sage,  Leipzig  1863. 

i"'  Sota  vii.  5,  with  reference  to  Deut,  xxvii.  8.  3t:iM  1X3,  "plaiuly 
engraven  (therefore  intelligibly  to  all)."  The  seventy  languages  correspond 
-with  the  seventy  nations  of  Gen.  x. ;  see  Targum  Jonathan  on  Gen.  xi.  7-8  ; 
Deut.  xxxii.  8 ;  rirke  de-Bahhi  Elieser,  c.  2i,  in  Wagenseil  on  Sota  vii.  5, 
in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  iii.  263. 

los  Taanith  iv.  6,  also  the  passages  of  the  Gemara  in  Lundius,  in  Suren- 
husius' Mislina,  ii.  382. 

'"9  Comp,  already  Joseph.  Antt.  iv.  8.  48. 

^i*"  According  to  another  Midrash,  Rahab  was  the  wife  of  Joshua, 


§  2Ö.    SCRIBISM.  345 

half  years,  i.e.  half  of  a  week  of  years  (Luke  iv.  25  ;  Jas.  v. 
17)."^  The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  mentions 
among  the  martyrs  of  the  Old  Testament  those  who  were 
sawn  asunder  (Hel),  xi.  37).  He  means  Isaiah,  of  whom 
the  Jewish  legend  says  that  this  was  the  manner  of  his 
death."' 

As  in  the  case  of  the  sacred  history,  so  also  in  that  of  the 
religious  and  ethical  matter  of  tlie  Scriptures,  the  manipulation 
was  of  two  kinds.  On  the  one  hand  there  was  a  dealing  by 
combination,  by  inference  and  the  like,  with  what  was  actually 
given ;  on  the  other  there  was  also  a  free  completion  by  the 
varied  formations  of  creative  religious  speculation.  And  the 
two  imperceptibly  encroached  one  upon  the  other.  Not  a  few 
of  the  doctrinal  notions  and  ideas  of  after  times  actually  arose 
from  the  circumstance,  that  the  existing  text  of  Scripture  had 
been  made  a  subject  of  "  investigation,"  and  therefore  from 
reflection  upon  data,  from  learned  inferences  and  combinations 
founded  thereupon.  Imagination  freely  employing  itself 
was  however  a  far  more  fertile  source  of  new  formations. 
And  what  was  obtained  in  the  one  way  was  constantly 
blended  with  what  was  arrived  at  in  the  other.  "With 
the  results  of  investigation  were  combined  the  voluntary 
images  of  fancy,  nay  the  former  as  a  rule  always  followed, 
either  consciously  or  unconsciously,  the  same  lines,  the 
same  tendency  and  direction  as  the  latter.  And  wlien  the 
free  creations  of  speculation   had  gained  a  settled  form,  they 

^^^  So  too  Jalkut  Sliimoni  in  Surenhusius,  B//3Xof  KX7ctf.hu.y7j;.  p.  681  sq. 
On  the  Elijah  legends  in  general,  comp.  S.  K.,  Der  J'roithct  Elia  in  der 
Leqeude  {Jfonatsschr.  f.  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Jiidenth.  1863,  pp.  241- 
255,  281-29G).     Hamburger,  Rcal-Encfiir  Bibel  und  Talmud,  Div.  i. 

^^2  Ascensio  laajae  (cd.  Dillmann,  1877).  c.  v.  1 ;  Jehamotk  49''.  Justin, 
Dial.  c.  Tryph.  c.  Vl().  Tertullian,  de  patieiUia,  c.  14;  scorpiace,  c.  8. 
Hippolyt.  de  Christo  et  Antichristo,  c.  30.  Origenes,  epi.it.  ad  African,  c.  9  ; 
comment,  ad  Matt.  xiii.  57  and  xxiii.  37  {0pp.  ed.  Lommatzscli,  iii.  49,  iv. 
238  sq.)  ;  Commodiav.  carmen  apolorjet.  v.  509  sq.  (ed.  Ludwig)  ;  Hieronymus, 
comment,  ad  haiam,  c.  bl,fin.  {0pp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  iv.  660).  Other  patristic 
passages  in  Fabricius,  Codex  pscitdc/dijr.  i.  1088  sq.  Wetzstein  and  Bleek 
on  Heb.  xi.  37,  and  in  Otto's  note  on  Justin.  Tnjph.  120. 


346  §  25.  scrjBisM. 

were   in   their    turn    deduced    from    Scripture   by   scholastic 
]\[idrash. 

These  theological  labours,  which  were  always  investigating 
old,  and  incessantly  creating  new  material,  were  extended  over 
the  entire  religious  and  ethical  department.  It  ivas  owing  to 
them  that  the  whole  circle  of  religious  ideas  in  Israel  had  received 
in  the  times  of  Christ  on  the  one  hand  a  fanciful,  on  the  other  a 
scholastic  character.  For  the  religious  development  was  no 
longer  determined  and  directed  by  the  actual  religious  produc- 
tivity of  the  prophets,  but  in  part  by  the  action  of  an  un- 
bridled imagination,  not  truly  religious  though  dealing  with 
religious  objects,  and  in  part  by  the  scholastic  reflection  of  the 
learned.  Both  these  ruled  and  directed  the  development,  in 
proportion  as  really  religious  life  lost  in  inward  strength. 

It  was  in  entire  consistency  with  this  tendency  of  the 
whole  development,  that  special  preference  was  shown  for 
dealing  with  such  objects  as  lay  more  at  the  circumference  than 
in  the  centre  of  religious  life,  with  the  temporally  and  locally 
transcendent,  with  the  future  and  the  heavenly  world.  For 
the  weaker  the  power  of  genuine  religion,  the  more  would 
fancy  and  reflection  move  from  the  centre  to  the  circumfer- 
ence, and  the  more  would  such  objects  be  detached  from  their 
central  point  and  acquire  an  independent  value  and  interest. 
The  grace  and  glory  of  God  were  no  longer  seen  in  the 
present  earthly  world,  but  only  in  the  future  and  heavenly 
world.  Hence  on  the  one  side  eschatology,  on  the  other 
mythological  theosophy,  were  cultivated  with  the  greatest  zeal. 
A  copious  abundance  of  notions  concerning  the  realization  of 
the  salvation  of  Israel  in  a  future  period  of  the  world's  history 
was  the  growth  of  scientific  investigation  and  unfettered 
religious  fancy.  The  conditions,  the  premisses  and  the  accom- 
panying circumstances,  under  which  the  means  and  forces  by 
which  this  salvation  would  be  realized,  were  stated,  and  most 
especially  was  it  declared  wherein  it  would  consist  and  how 
surpassing  would  be  its  glory;  in  a  word.  Messianic  dogma 
was  more  and  more   carefully  cultivated  and  extensively  de- 


§  25.  scribisäl  347 

veloped.  So  too  was  there  much  solicitous  occupation  with  the 
heavenly  world :  the  nature  and  attributes  of  God,  heaven  as 
his  dwelling  -  place,  the  angels  as  His  servants,  the  whole 
fulness  and  glory  of  the  heavenly  world ;  such  were  the 
objects  to  which  learned  reflection  and  inventive  fancy  applied 
themselves  with  special  predilection.  Philosophic  problems 
were  also  discussed :  how  the  revelation  of  God  in  the  world 
was  conceivable,  how  an  influence  of  God  upon  the  world  was 
possible  without  His  being  Himself  drawn  down  into  the 
finite,  how  far  there  was  room  for  evil  in  a  world  created  and 
governed  by  God,  and  the  like.  Two  portions  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture in  particular  gave  much  scope  for  the  development  of 
theosophic  speculation,  these  were  the  history  of  the  creation 
(n^^s^.a  nb'vo)  and  the  "  chariot "  of  Ezekiel  C^??'!'?).  *>•  the 
introductory  vision  of  Ezekiel,  chap.  i.  In  the  explanation 
of  these  two  portions,  profound  mysteries  which,  according 
to  the  view  of  scholars,  ought  to  form  an  esoteric  doctrine, 
were  dealt  with.  "  The  history  of  the  creation  might  not 
be  explained  before  two,  and  the  chariot  not  even  before 
one,  unless  he  were  a  scholar  and  could  judge  of  it  from  his 
own  knowledge."  "^  In  these  thus  carefully  guarded  exposi- 
tions of  the  history  of  the  creation  and  of  the  chariot,  we  have 
the  beginnings  of  those  strange  fancies  concerning  the  creation 
and  the  spiritual  world,  which  reached  their  climax  in  the 
so-called  Kabbala  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  exposition  and  further  development  of  the  law  was  a 
process  under  comparatively  strict  regulations,  but  an  almost 
unbridled  caprice  prevailed  in  the  province  of  religious  specu- 
lation. Rules  and  method,  except  in  a  very  figurative  sense, 
were  here  out  of  question.  One  thing  especially,  which  made 
the  development  of  the  law  so  continuous  and  consequent, 
viz,  the  principle  of  a  strict  adherence  to  tradition,  was  here 
absent.  The  manipulator  of  the  religious  and  ethical  matter 
was   not  bound,  like  the   interj)reter  of  the  law,  to  a  strict 

^^3  Chagiga  ii.  1.     Comp,  also  Mc/illa  iv.  10.     Further  particulars  in 
Herzfeld,  iii.  410-424. 


348  §  25.    SCEIBISM. 

adherence  to  tradition.  He  might  give  his  imagination  free 
play,  so  long  as  its  products  would  on  the  whole  admit  of 
being  inserted  in  the  frame  of  Jewish  views.  A  certain 
tradition  was  indeed  formed  in  this  sphere  also,  but  it  was  not 
binding.  Eeligious  faith  was  comparatively  free,  while  action 
was  all  the  more  strictly  shackled.  With  the  absence  more- 
over of  the  principle  of  tradition  in  this  department  all  rules 
in  general  ceased.  For  there  was  really  but  one  rule  for  the 
"  investigator,"  viz.  the  right  of  making  anything  of  a  passage, 
which  his  wit  and  understanding  enabled  him.  If  neverthe- 
less certain  "  rules  "  are  laid  down  even  for  Haggadic  interpre- 
tation, it  was  only  tliat  caprice  here  became  methodical.  A 
number  of  such  rules  for  Haggadic  exposition  are  met  with 
among  the  thirty-two  Middoth  (hermeneutical  principles)  of 
E.  Joses  ha-Gelili,  the  age  of  whicli  cannot  indeed  be  more 
particularly  determined."*  Later  Judaism  discovered  thai 
there  is  a  fourfold  meaning  of  Scripture,  which  is  indicated  in 
the  word  Dl"iS  (Paradise),  viz.  1.  t^C'S,  the  simple  or  literal 
meaning ;  2.  TO"!  (suggestion),  the  meaning  arbitrarily  imported 
into  it ;  3.  ti'^i"^.  (investigation),  the  meaning  deduced  by 
investigation ;  and  4.  nio  (mystery),  the  theosophistic  mean- 
ing.-^ 

It  would  be  a  superfluous  task  to  give  examples  in  illustra- 
tion of  this  kind  of  exegetical  method,  since  we  are  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  it  from  the  New  Testament  and  the  whole 
body  of  ancient  Christian  literature.     For  together  with  Holy 

^^*  See  the  22  Middoth,  e.g.  in  Waehner,  Antiquitates  Ehraeorum,  i.  396- 
421.  Pinner,  translation  of  the  treatise  Berachoth,  Introd.  fol  20^-21», 
Pressel  in  Herzoges  lleal-Enc,  1st  ed.  xv.  658  sq.  On  the  historical  litera- 
ture, comp,  also  Zunz,  Die  gottesdiem^illchen  Vorträge  der  Juden.,  p.  86. 
Fürst,  BihUotheca  Jiidaica,  ii.  108. 

^1^  The  initials  of  these  four  words  produce  the  word  Dn""lQ.  I  am 
unable  to  say  how  ancient  this  distinction  of  a  fourfold  meaning  may  be. 
Compare  on  this  subject,  Waehner,  Antiquitates  Ehraeorum,  i.  353-357. 
Döpke,  Hermeneutik  der  neutestamentlichen  Schriftsteller,  pp.  135  - 137. 
Deutsch,  Der  Talmud  (1869),  p.  16  sq.  The  distinction  between  Tü"l  and 
i^rn  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  between  i^T  and  n'^in,  see  note  85, 
above. 


§  25.  scIlIBIS^r.  349 

Scripture  itself,  its  own  mode  of  exegetical  treatment  was 
transferred  by  Judaism  to  the  Christian  Church.  In  saying 
this  however  it  must  also  be  remarked,  that  the  exegetic 
method  practised  in  the  New  Testament,  when  compared  with 
the  usual  Jewish  method,  is  distinguished  from  it  by  its  great 
enlightenment.  The  apostles  and  the  Christian  authors  in 
general  were  preserved  from  the  extravagances  of  Jewish 
exegesis  by  the  regulative  norm  of  the  gospel.  And  yet 
who  would  now  justify  such  treatment  of  Old  Testament 
passages,  as  are  found  e.g.  in  Gal.  iii.  16,  iv.  22-25  ;  Eoni.  x. 
6-8;  Matt.  xxii.  31-32?  Jewish  exegesis  however,  from 
which  such  a  regulator  was  absent,  degenerated  into  the  most 
capricious  puerilities.^^*  From  its  standpoint,  e.g.  the  trans- 
position of  words  into  numbers,  or  of  numbers  into  words, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  most  astonishing  disclosures, 
was  by  no  means  strange,  and  quite  in  accordance  with  its 
spirit."' 

With  the  comparatively  great  freedom  allowed  to  develop- 
ment in  the  sphere  of  religious  notions,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered, 
th.dX  foreign  influences  also  made  themselves  felt  with  more  or 
less  power.  Palestine  had  already  been  for  a  long  time 
open  to  the  general  intercourse  of  the  world.  So  early  as 
the  foundation  of  the  great  world-powers  of  the  Assyrians, 

'i"  Comp,  generally  the  literature  mentioned  p.  269,  especially  Dopke, 
pp.  88-188.  Hartinann,  pp.  534-699.  Gfrörer,  Das  Jahrlnnnhrt  des  Ilciüt, 
i.  244  sqq.  Hirscbfeld,  1847.  "Weite  in  the  Tübitu/er  Quartalschrift,  1842. 
Hausrath,  i.  97  sqq.  Hamburger's  article  in  the  Rcal-Encfur  Bibel  und 
Talmud,  Div.  ii.  On  Pliilo's  allegorical  exposition  of  Scripture,  see  especially 
Gfrörer,  PJiilo,  i.  68-113.  Zeller,  Die  Philosophie  dir  Griechen,  iii.  (3rd ed.), 
pp.  ."46-352.     Siegfried,  Philo,  p.  160  sqq. 

^^''  In  an  appendix  to  the  Mislina,  the  statement,  e.g.,  that  God  will  give 
to  every  righteous  man  310  worlds  as  his  inheritance,  is  proved  by  Prov. 
viii.  21  :  n;^  "inn  ^Tljn^  ;  because  C^"  stands  for  310  (Ukzin  iii.  12;  the 
passage  is  missing  in  the  Cambridge  MS.  edited  by  Lowe).  On  the  other 
hand,  the  author  of  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  who  herein  entirely  follows  the 
paths  of  Jewish  exegesis,  proves  from  the  318  servants  of  Abraham  that 
Abraham  had  already  in  spirit  beheld  the  cross  of  Jesus,  because  the 
number  18  =  III  means  the  name  Jesus,  and  the  number  300  =  T  means 
the  cross.     Beirnah.  c.  9. 


350  §  25.    SCKIBISM. 

Chaldaeans  and  Persians,  iuflaences  of  the  most  varied  kind 
bad  passed  over  the  land.  When  it  lay  for  two  centuries 
under  Persian  supremacy,  it  would  indeed  have  been  very 
surprising  if  this  fact  had  left  behind  it  no  kind  of  trace  in 
the  sphere  of  Israelitish  intellectual  life.  ISTor  could  it,  with 
all  its  struggles  for  intellectual  isolation,  have  possibly  with- 
drawn itself  entirely  from  the  supremacy  of  the  Greek  spirit. 
Hence  it  cannot  be  denied  that  on  the  one  hand  Babylonian, 
on  the  other  Greek  influences  are  especially  discernible  in  the 
development  of  Israel's  religious  notions.  The  amount  of  this 
influence  may  indeed  be  disputed.  A  careful  investigation 
of  details,  especially  in  respect  of  the  influence  of  Parseeism, 
has  not  as  yet  been  made.  This  influence  may  perliaps 
have  to  be  reduced  to  a  comparatively  small  proportion. 
The  fact  however,  that  both  Babylonian  and  Greek  influences 
asserted  themselves,  is  undeniable.-^^^  At  first  sight  indeed  it 
seems  strange,  nay  enigmatical,  considering  the  high  wall  of 
partition  which  Judaism  erected  in  respect  of  religion  between 
itself  and  heathenism.  There  is  however  no  need  of  appealing, 
in  explanation  to  the  circumstance,  that  such  influences  were 
felt  at  a  time  when  this  wall  of  partition  was  as  yet  no 
unscaleable  one,  for  they  continued  to  be  exerted  in  later  times 
also ;  ^^^  nor  to  the  fact,  that  no  wall  of  partition  is  strong 
enough  to  resist  the  power  of  intellectual  influences.  The 
deepest  reason  that  can  be  offered  in  explanation  is,  on  the 
contrary,  that  legal  Judaism  itself  laid  the  chief  stress  upon 
correctness  of  action,  and  that  comparatively  free  x)lay  was 
therefore  permitted  in  the  sphere  of  religious  notions. 

118  Compare  with  respect  to  Parseeism  the  certainly  candid  judgment  of 
Lücke,  Einleitung  in  die  Ofetibarung  Johannes  (2nd  ed.),  p.  55  sq. :  "  The 
influence  of  the  ancient  Persian  religion  upon  the  development  of  Jewish 
religious  notions  ...  is  an  indisputable  fact."  On  the  influence  of 
Hellenism  upon  the  Palestinian  Midrash,  see  Freudenthal,  Hellenistischen 
Studien  (1875),  pp.  66-77.     Siegfried,  Philo,  p.  283  sqq. 

119  Angelology  was  far  more  strongly  under  the  influence  of  Parseeism 
at  the  period  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  than  previously.  Comp.  Kohut, 
Uebei-  die  jüdische  Angelologie  und  Dämonologie,  1866.  The  influences  of 
Hellenism  upon  the  Palestinian  Midrash,  pointed  out  by  Freudenthal  and 


§  25.    SCEIBISM.  351 


IV.    THE  MOST  FAMOUS  SCRIBES. 
The  Literature. 

The  older  Hebrew  works  on  the  MLihna  teachers  in  Wolf,  BiUiotlu  Ilehr. 

ii.  805  sq.     Fürst,  Biblioth.  Judaica,  ii.  48  sq. 
Ottho,    Historia   doctorum    misnicorum   qua    opera   etiam  syitedi-ii   macjni 

Hierosolymitani  praesides  et  vice-praesides  recensentur.     Oxonii  1672 

(frequently  reprinted,  e.g.  also  in  Wolf's  Bihlioth.  Hehr.  vol.  iv.,  and 

in  Ugolini's  llicsauriis,  vol.  xxi.). 
Job.  Chrph.  Wolf,  Bihliothcca  Ilcbraea,  ii.  805-865  (gives  an  alphabetical 

catalogue  of  the  scholars  mentioned  in  the  Mishna). 
Herzfeld,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Jisrael.  iü.  226-263.     The  same,  Chronolo- 
gische Ansetzung  der  Schriftgelehrten  von  Antigonus  von  Socho  bis  auf 

B.  Akiba  {Monatsschr.  für  Gesch.  und   Wissensch.  des  Jtidenth.  1854, 

pp.  221-229,  273-277). 
Kämpf,   Genealogisches  und  Chronologisches  bezuglich  der  Patriarchen  aus 

dem  HilleVschen  Hause  bis  auf  li.  Jehuda  ha-Nasi,  den  Redacteur  der 

Mischnah  (Monatsschr.  f.  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Judcnth.  1853,  pp. 

201-207,  231-236;  1854,  pp.  39-42,  98-107). 
Jost,  Geschichte  des  Judenthuvis  und  seiner  Sccten,  vols.  i.  ii. 
Grätz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  vols.  iii.  iv. 
Derenbourg,  Ussai  sur  l'histoire  et  la  geographic  de  la  Palestine  d''apres  les 

Thalmuds  et   les   autres  sources  rabbiniques.      P.    i.  :  Histoire   de  la 

Palestine  depuis  Cyrus  jusqu'd  Adrien.    Paris  18C7. 
The   works,  written  in   Hebrew,  of  Frankel    (1859),    Brüll    (1876)   and 

W^eiss  (1871-1876).     For   further  details  concerning  them,  see   the 

literature  on  the  Mishna,  §  3. 
Friedländer,    Geschichtsbilder  aus  der   Zeit  der    Tanaiten  und  Armoräer, 

Brunn  1879  (a  careless  performance,  see  Theol.  Litztg.  1880,  p.  433). 
Hamburger,  Real-Encyclopädie  für  Bibel  und  Talmud,  Div.  ii.,  the  several 

articles. 
Bacher,  Die  Agada  der  T'anaiten  (^^fonatsschr.  für  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des 

Judenth.  1882-1884).     Also  separately.  Die  Agada  der  Tanaiten,  vol.  i. 

1884. 

It  is  not  till  the  period  of  the  Mishna,  i.e.  about  70  a.])., 
that  we  have  any  detailed  information  concerning  individual 
scribes.  Of  those  who  lived  before  this  time,  our  knowledge 
is  extremely  scanty.  This  too  is  almost  the  case  in  respect  of 
Hillel  and  Shammai,  the  famous  heads  of  schools ;  for,  setting 
aside  what  is  puiely  legendary,  our  information  concerning 

Siegfried,  generally  belong  to  a  period  wiien  the  religions  seclusion  liad 
lon\;  been  a  very  strict  one. 


352  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

tliem  is  comparatively  small  and  unimportant.  The  names 
and  order  of  the  most  celebrated  heads  of  schools  since  about 
the  second  century  after  Christ  have  been  handed  down  to 
us  chiefly  by  the  1st  chapter  of  the  treatise  Äboth  (or  Pirke 
Ahoth),  in  which  is  enumerated  the  unbroken  succession  of 
individuals,  who  were  from  Moses  till  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  the  depositaries  of  the  traditions  of 
the  law.      The  whole  chapter  runs  as  follows  : — ^^° 

1.  3roses  received  the  law  upon  Sinai,  and  delivered  it  to 
Joshua ;  he  to  the  elders ;  the  elders  to  the  prophets ;  and 
the  prophets  delivered  it  to  the  men  of  the  Great  Assembly. 
These  laid  down  three  rules :  Be  careful  in  pronouncing  judg- 
ment !  bring  up  many  pupils  !  and  make  a  fence  about  the 
law  !  2.  Simon  the  Just  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  Great 
Assembly.  He  said  :  The  world  subsists  by  three  things — 
by  the  law,  the  worship  of  God,  and  benevolence.  3.  Anti- 
gonus  of  Socho  received  the  tradition  from  Simon  the  Just. 
He  said :  Be  not  like  servants  who  serve  their  master  for  the 
sake  of  reward,  but  be  like  those  who  do  service  without 
respect  to  recompense ;  and  live  always  in  the  fear  of  God. 

4.  Joses  hen  Joeser  of  Zereda  and  Joses  hen  Jdhanan  of 
Jerusalem  received  the  tradition  from  them,  Joses  ben  Joeser 
said :  Let  thy  house  be  a  place  of  meeting  for  the  wise,  dust 
thyself  with  the  dust  of  their  feet,  and  drink  eagerly  of  their 
teaching.  5.  Joses  ben  Johanan  of  Jerusalem  said  :  Let  thy 
house  be  always  open  (to  guests),  and  let  the  poor  be  thy 
household.  Avoid  superfluous  chatter  with  women.  It  is 
unbecoming  with  one's  own  wife,  much  more  with  the  wife  of 
another.  Hence  the  wise  also  say :  He  who  carries  on  use- 
less   conversation    with    a    woman,    brings   misfortune    upon 

^-0  The  foUowiug  translation  is  for  the  most  part  taken  from  the  edition 
of  the  Mishna  which  has  lately  appeared  under  the  management  of  Jost ; 
but  partly  corrected  according  to  the  careful  explanation  of  Cahn  (^Pirke 
Ahoth,  1875).  Comp,  also  for  the  exposition  the  editions  of  Surenhusius 
{MisJma,  vol.  iv.),  F.  Ewald  (Pirke  Aboth,  1825),  Taylor  (Sayings  of  the 
Jewish  Fathers,  Cambridge  1877),  and  Strack  (Die  Sprüche  der  Väter, 
1882). 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  853 

himself,  is  hindered  from  occupation  with  the  law,  and  at  last 
inherits  hell. 

6.  Joshua  ben  Perachiah  and  Niihai  of  Arhela  received  the 
tradition  from  these.  The  former  said :  Procure  a  companion 
(in  study),  and  judge  all  men  according  to  the  favourable  side. 
7.  Nithai  of  Arbela  said :  Depart  from  a  bad  neighbour ; 
associate  not  with  the  ungodly  ;  and  think  not  that  punishment 
will  fail. 

8.  Jiidali  hen  Tahbai  and  Simon  ben  Shdach  received  the 
tradition  from  these.  The  former  said :  Make  not  thyself 
(as  judge)  an  advocate.  When  both  sides  stand  before  thee, 
look  upon  both  as  in  the  wrong.  But  when  they  are  dismissed 
and  have  received  sentence,  regard  both  as  justified.  9.  Simon 
ben  Shetach  said :  Test  the  witnesses  well,  but  be  cautious  in 
examination,  lest  they  thereby  learn  to  speak  falsehood. 

lO".  /S'/ie?nam7i  and -^5^aZzo7i  received  from  them.  Shemaiah 
taught :  Love  work,  hate  authority,  and  do  not  press  thyself 
upon  the  great.  11.  Abtalion  said:  Ye  wise,  be  cautious 
in  your  teaching,  lest  ye  be  guilty  of  error,  and  err 
towards  a  place  of  bad  water.  For  your  scholars,  who  come 
after  you,  will  drink  of  it,  die,  and  the  name  of  God  be  thereby 
dishonoured. 

12.  Uilld  and  Sliammai  received  from  these.  Hillel  said: 
Be  a  disciple  of  Aaron,  a  lover  of  peace,  a  maker  of  peace, 
love  men,  and  draw  them  to  the  law.  13.  He  was  accus- 
tomed also  to  say :  He  who  will  make  himself  a  great  name, 
forfeits  his  own,  lie  who  docs  not  increase  his  knowlei^ge 
diminishes  it,  but  he  who  seeks  no  instruction  is  guilty  of 
death.  He  who  uses  the  crown  (of  the  law)  (for  external 
purposes)  perishes.  1 4.  The  same  said :  Unless  I  (work)  for 
myself,  who  will  do  so  for  me  ?  And  if  I  do  so  for  myself 
alone,  what  am  I  ?  And  if  not  now,  when  else  ?  15.  Sham- 
mai  said :  Make  the  study  of  the  law  a  decided  occupation ; 
promise  little  and  do  much ;  and  receive  every  one  witli 
kindness. 

16.  Eabban  Gamaliel  said:  Appoint  yourself  a  tenchcr,  you 
DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  z 


354  §  '25.    SCMBISM. 

thus  avoid  the  doubtful ;  and  do  not  too  often  tithe  according 
to  mere  chance. 

1 7.  His  son  Simon  said :  "  I  have  grown  up  from  early 
youth  among  wise  men,  and  have  found  nothing  more  profit- 
able for  men  than  silence.  Study  is  not  the  chief  thing,  but 
practice.     lie  who  speaks  much  only  brings  sin  to  pass," 

18.  Eabban  Ä'mow  len  Gamaliel  said:  The  world  subsists 
by  three  things — by  the  administration  of  justice,  by  truth, 
and  by  unanimity.  (Thus  also  it  is  said,  Zech.  viii.  16  :  "Let 
peace  and  truth  judge  in  your  gates.")^^^ 

So  far  the  Mishna.  Among  tlie  authorities  here  specified, 
those  which  chiefly  interest  us  are  "  the  men  of  the  great  assem- 
bly," or  of  the  great  synagogue  ('"ipnjn  nD:3  ''^"?X).  They  appear 
here  as  the  depositaries  of  the  tradition  of  the  law  between 
the  last  prophets  and  the  first  scribes  known  by  name.  Later 
Jewish  tradition  ascribes  to  them  all  kinds  of  legal  enact- 
ments.^'^ Very  recent,  indeed  really  modern,  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  opinion,  tliat  they  also  composed  the  canon  of  the 
Old  Testament.^^''  As  no  authorities  tell  us  who  they  really 
were,  there  has  been  the  more  opportunity  for  the  most  vary- 
ing hypotheses  concerning  them.^^*    The  correct  one,  that  they 

121  The  bracketed  words  are  wanting  in  the  best  manuscripts,  e.g.  Berolin. 
!MSS.  fol.  507  (see  Cahn,  Pirke  Ahoih,  p.  62),  and  Cambridge  University 
Additional,  470.  1  (see  Taylor,  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fatliers,  p.  4). 

1^2  See  Kau,  De  synagoga  magna,  pp.  G-24.  llerzfeld,  Gesch.  des  Volkes 
Jisrael,  iii.  244  sq.  Kueuen,  Ocer  de  mannen  der  groote  synagoge,  pp.  2-6. 
Taylor,  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers,  p.  124  sq.  D.  Hoffmann  in  the 
]\Iagazin  für  die  Wissenschaft  des  Judenth.  x.  1883,  p.  45  sqq. 

1-2  This  opinion  became  current  chiefly  through  Elias  Levita  (sixteentli 
century),  and  was  transferred  from  bim  to  Christian  theology.  See 
Strack  in  Herzog's  Rcul-Enc,  2nd  ed.  vii.  416  sq.  (art.  "Kanon  des 
Alten  Testaments"). 

12*  See  Hartmann,  Die  enge  Verbindung  des  Alien  Testaments  mit  dem 
'Neuen,  pp.  120-166.  The  Introductions  to  the  Old  Testament,  e.g.  De 
Wette-Schrader,  §  13.  Heidenheim,  Untersnchnngen  über  die  Synagoga 
magna  (Studien  und  Kritik.  1853,  pp.  286-300).  Herzfeld,  Gesch.  des  Volkes 
Jisrael,  ii.  22-24,  380  sqq.,  iii.  244  sq.,  270  sq.  Jost,  Gesch.  des  Jndenth. 
i.  41-43,  91,  95  sq.  Giätz,  Die  grosse  Versammlung  (^Jilnatsschr.  f.  Gesch.. 
vud  Wissensch.  des  Judoithvins,  1857,  pp.  31-37,  61-70).  Leyrer  in 
Herzog's  Real-Enc,  1st   ed.  xv.  290  299.        Derenbourg,  Histoire   de   In 


§  25.  scuiniSM.  355 

never  existed  at  all  in  the  form  wliicli  Jewish  tradition  repre- 
sents, was  already  advocated  by  older  Protestant  criticism/" 
thoTijih  it  was  reserved  for  the  conclusive  investigation  of 
Kuenen  to  fidly  dissipate  the  obscurity  resting  upon  this 
subject.  The  only  historical  foundation  for  the  idea  is  the 
narrative  in  Neli.  viii.-x.,  that  in  Ezra's  time  the  law  was 
solemnly  accepted  by  a  great  assembly  of  the  people.  This 
"  great  assembly  "  was  in  fact  of  eminent  importance  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  law.  But  alter  the  notion  of  a  great 
assembly  had  been  once  fixed  as  an  essential  court  of  appeal 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  law,  an  utterly  non-historical 
conception  was  gradually  combined  therewith  in  tradition. 
Instead  of  an  assembly  of  the  people  receiving  the  law,  a 
collesie  of  individuals  transmitting  the  law  was  conceived  of 
and  this  notion  served  to  fill  up  the  gap  between  the  latest 
prophets  and  those  scribes  to  whom  the  memoiy  of  subsequent 
times  still  extended."® 

Together  with  the  notion  of  the  great  synagogue  may  be 
dismissed  also  the  statement,  that  Simon  the  Just  was  one  of 
its  latest  members.  This  Simon  is,  on  the  contrary,  no  other 
than  the  high  priest  Simon  1,  in  the  beginning  of  the  third 
century  before  Christ,  who,  according  to  Josephus,  obtained 
the  surname  o  hUaio'i}^''      Undoubtedly  this  name  was  con- 

Palestive,  pp.  29-40.  Giiusbiirg  in  Kitto's  Cijclopaedia,  iii.  909  sqq.  Netoler, 
"j'ub.  Theul.  Quartalschr.  1875,  \)p.  41)0-499.  Bloch,  Studien  zur  Geschichte 
(kr  SammluiKj  der  althihrüischcn  Literatur  (187()),  pp.  100-132.  Ilaui- 
bni-o:or,  Ucal-Evc.  für  Bibel  urtfl  Talmud,  Div.  ii.  pp.  318-ö2c5.  Moutct, 
/•-Ksai  .iiir  Ics  orif/ines  des  partis  saduccen  et  pharisieu  (188;]),  pp.  91-97.  D. 
Hoffmann,  IJeher  ''^  die  Männer  der  f/mssen  Versatnudnng  ''  (Muijdzin  für 
die  Wissenschaft  des  Juduithunis,  lOth  year,  l.'S8o,  pp.  45-()l).  Strack  in 
Uorzoir's  lieal-J'Jnc,  2nd  ed.  xv.  95  sq. 

^-•'  Joli.  Eberh.  Hau,  Diatribe  de  sijnagofia  magna,  Traj.  ad  Rh.  1720. 
Aniivillius,  Dissertationes  ad saci-as  literaset pkikdogiam  orientalcm pertinentt» 
(cd.  .Michaelis,  1790),  pp.  139-lGO. 

^-•^  See  Kueiion,  Over  de  mannen  der  groote  snuaqnge,  Amsterdam  1876 
(separate  reprint,  Verslagen  en  Medcdeclingen  der  kuninllijkt  Ahadende  van 
Wetcnschapppn,  Afdeeling  Letterkunde,  2''«  Keeks,  Ueel  vi.).  Cuuip.  TIteol. 
Litztg.  1877,  p.  100, 

^"  Joseph.  .1«//.  xii.  2.  4. 


356  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

ferrcd  on  him  by  tlie  Pharisaic  party  on  account  of  his  strict 
legal  tendencies,  while  most  of  the  high  priests  of  the  Greek 
period  left  mucli  to  be  desired  in  this  respect.  It  was  ou 
this  very  acco\mt  also  that  he  was  stamped  by  Jewish  tradi- 
tion as  a  vehicle  of  the  tradition  of  the  law.^^* 

The  most  ancient  scribe  of  whom  tradition  has  preserved 
at  least  the  name  is  Antiqonus  of  Soclio.  Little  more  than 
his  name  is  however  known  of  him.^'*®  The  information  too 
given  in  the  Mishna  of  the  subsequent  scribes  down  to  the 
time  of  Christ  is  extremely  scanty  and  uncertain,  as  is  indeed 
evident  from  the  externally  systematic  grouping  of  them  in 
five  pairs.  For  there  could  hardly  be  historical  foundation 
for  such  a  fact  as  that  in  each  generation  only  a  pair  of 
scholars  should  have  specially  distinguished  themselves.  It 
is  likely  that  just  ten  names  were  known,  and  that  these  were 
formed  into  five  pairs  of  contemporaries,  after  the  analogy 
of  the  last  and  most  famous  pair,  Hillel  and  Shammai.*'"  In 
such  a  state  of  affairs,  of  course,  only  the  most  general  out- 
lines of  the  chronology  can  be  determined.  The  comparatively 
most  certain  points  are  the  following.^^^  Simon  ben  Shetach 
was  a  contemporary  of  Alexander  Jannaeus  and  Alexandra,  and 
therefore  lived  about  90-70  B.c."^     Hence  the  first  pair  must 

^-^  He  is  also  mentioned  in  Para  iii.  5  as  one  of  the  high  priests  under 
whom  a  red  heifer  was  burnt.  Comp,  in  general,  Wolf,  Bihlloth.  Ilehr.  ii. 
864.  Fiirst's  LiteraturU.  des  Orient.'^,  184.5,  p.  33  sqq.  Herzfeld,  ii.  189  sqq., 
877  (who  in  opposition  to  Josephus  maintains  that  Simon  II.,  the  high 
priest  at  the  close  of  the  third  century,  is  Simon  the  Just),  Grätz,  Simon 
der  Gerechte  und  seine  Z?it  (Monatsschrijt^  1857,  pp.  45-56).  Hamburger, 
Real-Enc.y  Div.  ii.  pp.  1115-1119.  Montet,  Essai  sur  Ics  origines,  etc. 
pp.  135-139. 

^29  Comp,  also  Wolf,  Bihlioth.  Hehr.  ii.  813  sqq.  Fiirst's  LiteraturU.  des 
Orients.,  1845,  p.  36  sq.  Hamburger,  Real-Enc.  s.v.  In  the  Ahoth  de-Itabbi 
Nathan,  c.  5,  two  disciples,  Zadok  and  Boethos,  are  ascribed  to  Autigonus, 
and  the  Sadducees  and  Boethosees  traced  to  them. 

ISO  Hence  these  ten  are  in  Eabbinical  literature  sometimes  simply  called 
'*  the  pairs"  (nij^l),  e.g.  Pea  ii.  6. 

^2^  Comp,  on  the  chronology,  Ziinz,  Die  gottesdienstlichen  Vorträge  der 
Jndcn,  p.  37,  and  Herzfeld  in  the  Monatsschrift  f.  Gesch.  und  Wissenschaft 
des  .Judenth.  1854. 

^ä-  With  this  agrees  the  statement  in  Taanilh  iii.  8,  that  Simon  ben  Shetach 


§  25.  scrjBissi.  307 

he  placed  two  geiiprations  earlier,  viz.  about  150  h.C,      Ilillel 

io  said,  according   to   Talmudic   tradition,  to   have   lived   100 

years  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  thus  to  have 

flourished  about  the  time  of  Herod  the  Great.^^     His  supposed 

grandson,  Gamaliel  I.,  is  mentioned  in  the  Acts  (v.  34,  xxii.  3), 

about  30-40  A.D."*     It  has  been  already  stated  (p.  180  sq.) 

that  subsequent  tradition  makes  the  whole  five  pairs  presidents 

and  vice-presidents  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  the  utter  erroneous- 

ness  of  this  assertion  is  there  pointed  out.      They  were  in  fact 

nothing  more  than  heads  of  schools. 

The  first  pair,  Joses  ben  Joeser  and  Joses  ben  Johanan,  is 

only  mentioned,  besides  the  chief  passage  in  the  treatise  Ahoth, 

a  few  times  more  in  the  Mishna,"*  and  still  less  frequently  do 

we  meet  with   the  second  pair,  Joshua   ben   Perachiah   and 

Nithai  of  Arbela.^^^     Of  the  third  pair  only  Simon  ben  Shetach 

has  a  somewhat  tangible  form,  though  what  is  related  of  him 

is  for  the  most  part  of  a  legendary  cliaracter.''^'     There  is  no 

was  a  contemporary  of  the  Onias  so  famed  for  his  power  in  prayer,  and  whose 
deatli  is  related  by  Josephus,  Antt.  xiv.  2.  1,  as  taking  place  about  G.t  li.c. 

^^■''  Shahbath  lö».  llieronymus  ad  Jcsaj.  11  sqq.  (O/ip.  ed.  Yalhiisi,  iv. 
12'^):  Sammai  et  Uellel  nou  multo  prius  quam  Dominus  nasccivtur  orti 
hUnt  Judaea. 

13*  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  3.  9  ;  Vita,  38,  39,  44,  60. 

135  Both  besides  Ahoth  i.  4,  5  only  in  Chagiga  ii.  2  ;  Sota  ix.  9.  Joses 
ben  Joeser  also  in  Chagifja  ii.  7  ;  Edujoth  viii.  4.  According  to  ChagUja 
ii.  7,  Joses  ben  Joeser  was  a  priest,  and  indeed  a  pious  one  (I^DH)  amongst 
the  priesthood.  The  information  in  Sota  ix.  9,  that  since  the  death  of  Joses 
ben  Joeser  and  Joses  ben  Johanan,  there  had  been  no  more  mhD'J'X,  i» 
cibscure.  Since  the  Mishna  itself  here  refers  to  Micah  vii.  1 ,  it  is  probable  that 
m^13CX  is  to  be  taken  in  its  usual  signification  (grapes),  as  a  figurative 
•  lesignation  of  men  who  could  afford  mental  refreshment.  Others  desire  to 
take  it  like  ct>joA«/.  Comp.  Herzfeld,  iii.  240-249.  Dcreubourg,  pp.  65, 
7.Ö,  456  sqq. 

136  The  two  only  in  Ahoth  i.  6,  7  and  Chagiga  ii.  2.  Instead  of  Nithai 
(^XnS  or  i">n3)  there  is  good  testimony  in  both  passages  {Cod.  de  A'o.sw/  138, 
Cambridge  University  Additional,  470.  1,  also  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  Cha- 
giga ii.  2)  for  ""XnO  or  ■'^niD,  i-C-  Matthew,  which  is  perhaps  preferable.  The 
native  place  of  Nithai  (^3~in)  is  the  present  Irbid,  north-west  of  Tibei'ias, 
where  ruins  of  an  ancient  synagogue,  the  building  of  which  is  of  course 
ascribed  by  tradition  to  Nithai,  arc  still  found  (see  §  27,  note  89a),  Comj). 
ilerzfeld,  iii.  251  sq.     Derenbourg,  p.  93  sq. 

1'*'  On  his  relations  with  Alexander  Jannacus  and  Alexandra,  see  above, 


358  §  25.    SCUIBISM. 

mention  of  any  of  tliera  in  Joseplius.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
seems  to  speak  of  the  fourth  pair,  Shemaiah  and  Abtalion, 
under  the  names  SaiJLea<;  and  IlcoXiwv.  He  tells  us  that 
when,  in  the  year  47  B.c.,  the  youthful  Herod  was  accused 
before  the  Sanhedrim  on  account  of  his  acts  in  Galilee,  and 
all  owners  of  property  were  silent  through  cowardly  fear,  that 
a  certain  Samcas  alone  raised  his  voice,  and  prophesied  to  his 
colleagues  that  they  would  yet  all  perish  through  Herod.  His 
prophecy  was  fulfilled  ten  years  later,  when  Herod,  after  his 
conquest  of  Jerusalem  in  the  year  37,  had  all  his  former 
accusers  executed.^^^  Only  the  Pharisee  PoUio  and  his  dis- 
ciple Sameas  {TlwXiwv  6  ^apicraio<i  koX  ^aixia'f  6  rovrou 
fxa6r)Ti']<i)  were  spared,  nay  highly  honoured  by  him,  because 
during  the  siege  by  Herod  they  had  given  counsel,  that  the 
king  should  be  admitted  into  the  town.  The  Sameas  here 
mentioned  is  expressly  identified  by  Josephus  with  the 
former."^^  Lastly,  Pollio  and  Sameas  are  mentioned  by 
Josephus,  and  again  in  the  same  order,  in  a  third  passage. 
Unfortunately  however  we  obtain  no  entire  certainty  as  to 
time.  For  he  informs  us  that  the  followers  of  Pollio  and 
Sameas  {ol  irepl  IIco\icova  rov  ^apLaalov  koX  ^afxeav)  refused 
the  oath  of  allegiance  demanded  of  them  by  Herod,  and  were 
not  punished  on  this  account,  "  obtaining  indulgence  for  the 
sake  of  Pollio "  (ivrpo7ri]<i  Blo.  tov  JJcükiwva  rv^övre'i). 
Josephus  relates  this  among  the  events  of  the  eighteenth  year 
of  Herod  (  =  20—19  B.c.).  It  cannot  however  be  quite  cer- 
tainly determined  from  the  context,  whether  this  occurrence 
really  took  place  in  that  year.  Now  the  two  names  ^afiea<i 
and  UcoXlodv  so  strikingly  coincide  with  n^^V'r*^  and  l^vP255,  that 
the  view  of  their   being  identical   is   very   obvious.^*^     The 

§  10.  Comp,  beside  Aboth  i.  8-9,  Chagiga  ii.  2,  also  Taanith  iii.  8,  San- 
hedrin  vi.  4.  Landau  in  the  Monatsschr.  f.  Gcsch.  und  Wisscnscli.  des  Judenth. 
1853,  pp.  107-122,  177-180.  Hcrzfeld,  iii.  251  sq.  Grätz,  GescJi.  der 
Juden,  vol.  iii.  3rd  ed.  pp.  6C5-669  (note  14).     Derenbourg,  pp.  96-111. 

138  A7itt.  xiv.  9.  4.  139  ^„;,_  XV.  1.  1.  "0  Antt.  xv.  10.  4. 

1^1  Tiie  name  n"'j;oe',  which  also  frequently  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament, 
especially  in  Nehemiah  and  Chronicles,  is  rendered  in  the  LXX.  by  2xftet!u, 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  359 

chronology  too  would  about  agree.  The  only  thing  that 
causes  hesitation  is,  that  Sameas  is  called  the  disciple  of  Pollio, 
while  elsewhere  Shemaiah  stands  before  Abtalion.  Hence 
we  might  feel  tempted  to  identify  Sameas  with  Shammai/^^ 
but  that  it  would  then  be  strange,  that  Josephus  should  men- 
tion him  twice  in  connection  with  Abtalion,  and  not  with  his 
contemporary  Hillel.  If  however  by  reason  of  this  connec- 
tion we  take  Hillel  and  Shammai  to  be  meant  by  Pollio  and 
Sameas/"  there  is  against  this  identification,  first  the  differ- 
ence of  the  names  Pollio  and  Hillel,  and  then  the  designation 
of  Sameas  as  the  disciple  of  Pollio,  while  Shammai  was  cer- 
tainly no  disciple  of  Hillel.  All  things  considered,  the  con- 
nection of  Sameas  and  Pollio  with  Shemaiah  and  Abtalion 
seems  not  only  the  more  obvious,  but  the  more  probable."* 

Hillel  and  Shammai  are  by  far  the  most  renowned  among 
the  five  pairs.^^^  An  entire  school  of  scribes,  who  separated, 
if  not  in  principle,  yet  in  a  multitude  of  legal  decisions,  in 

2«,{4«/as-,  2ctfiiioi;  and  "^ifisi'tx,;.  The  name  UaTiiav  is  not  indeed  identical 
with  Abtalion,  but,  on  the  contrary,  like  the  Latin  Pollio.  It  is  well  known 
however,  that  besides  their  Hebrew,  the  Jews  often  bore  like-sounding 
Greek  or  Latin  names  (Jesus  and  Jason,  Saul  and  Paulus,  etc.). 

1^2  'i^t^'y  or  '<''^\^  (probably  only  an  abbreviation  of  rT'l'Dti',  see  Deren- 
bourg,  p.  95)  may  very  well  be  rendered  by  "Exf^iag  in  Greek,  as  ^SJ''  l>y 
'locvviu;  in  Anit.  xiii.  12.  1. 

^■*^  So  e.g.  Arnold  in  Ilerzog's  Real-Enc,  1st.  ed.  vi.  97. 

^^'^  Comp,  on  both,  beside  Abnth  i.  10,  11  and  Char/Uja  ii.  2,  also  Edujtith 
i.  3,  V.  6.  Landau  in  the  Monatsiichrift  für  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des 
Judevth.  1858,  pp.  317-329.  Herzfeld,  iii.  253  sqq.  Grütz,  Gesch.  der  Juden, 
l'trd  ed.  iii.  671  sq.  (note  17).  Derenbourg,  pp.  llG-118,  149  sq.,  4C3  sq. 
Hamburger,  Bcal-Enc,  Div.  ii.  p.  1113  sq.  (art.  "Semaja"). 

i^''  On  both,  especially  on  Hillel,  see  Bicsenthal  in  Fiirst's  Literaturhl. 
des  Orients,  1848,  Nos.  43-46.  Kämpf  in  the  same,  1819,  Nos.  10-38. 
Arnold  in  Herzog's  lical-Enc,  1st  ed.  96-98  (and  the  oMer  literature 
there  cited).  Ilerzfcld,  iii.  257  sqq.  Grätz,  iii.  222  sqq.  Jost,  1.  255-270. 
Ewald,  Jahrb.  der  bill.  Wissenschaft,  vol.  x.  pp.  5G-83.  Gesch.  des  Völlers 
Isr.  vol.  V.  12-48.  Geiger,  Das  Judenthum  und  seine  Gei^ch.  i.  99-107. 
Delitzsch,  Jesu  und  Hillcl,  1866  (2nd  ed.  1867).  Keim,  Gesch.  Jesu,  i. 
268-272.  Derenbourg,  pp.  176-192.  Strack  in  Herzog's  Rcal-Enc, 
2nd  ed.  vi.  113-115.  Hamburger,  Jieal-Iüw.  ii.  401-412.  Bacher, 
Monatsschr.  f.  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  1882,  pp.  100-110. 
(Joitcin,  I\Iogazin  für  die  Wissen.sch.  des  Judenth.  llth  year,  1884,  pp.  1-16, 
49-87. 


360  ^25.    SCIIIBISM. 

two  different  directions,  adhered  to  each  of  them.  This 
circumstance  certainly  makes  it  evident,  tliat  both  are  of 
eminent  importance  in  the  history  of  Jewish  law.  Both 
indeed  manifestly  laboured  with  special  zeal  and  iugenuity  to 
give  a  more  subtle  completeness  to  the  law,  but  it  must  not 
therefore  be  supposed,  that  their  personal  life  and  acts  stand 
out  in  the  clear  light  of  history.  What  we  know  of  them  with 
certainty  is  comparatively  very  little.  In  the  Mishna,  the 
only  trustworthy  authority,  they  are  each  mentioned  barely 
a  dozen  times.'*^  And  what  w^e  know  of  them  from  later 
sources  bears  almost  always  the  impress  of  the  legendary. 
Hillel,  called  "  the  elder,"  ii?|i!','^^  to  distinguish  him  from  others, 
is  said  to  have  sprung  from  the  family  of  David,^^  and  to 
have  immigrated  from  Babylon  to  Palestine.  Being  poor  he 
was  obliged  to  hire  himself  as  a  day-labourer  to  earn  a  living 
for  himself  and  his  family  and  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
instruction.  His  zeal  for  study  was  so  great  that  on  one 
occasion,  not  being  able  to  pay  the  entrance- fee  into  the  Beth- 
ha-Midrash,  he  climbed  up  to  the  window  to  listen  to  the 
instruction.  As  this  happened  in  winter,  he  was  frozen  with 
cold,  and  was  found  in  this  position  by  his  astonished  teachers 
and  colleagues.^*^  Tradition  tells  strange  things  of  the  learn- 
ing he  acquired  by  such  zeal.  He  understood  all  tongues,  and 
even  the  language  of  the  mountains,  hills,  valleys,  trees,  plants, 
of  wild  and  tame  animals  and  of  daemons.''^''  At  all  events 
he  was  the  most  celebrated  jurist  of  his  age,  but  he  was  no 
more  president  of  the  Sanhedrim  than  was  any  other  learned 

i'"''  Hillel  is  mentioned  in  tlie  Mishna  only  in  the  following  passages  : 
Shebiith  x.  3  ;  Chagiga  ii.  2  ;  Gittin  iv.  3  ;  Bdha  mezia  v.  9  ;  Eduj'oth  i.  1-4 ; 
Aboth  i.  12-1-1,  ii.  4-7,  iv.  5,  v.  17  ;  Arachin  ix.  4 ;  Nidda  i.  1.  Shammai 
only  in  the  following  :  Maaser  sheni  ii.  4,  9  ;  Orla  ii.  5 ;  SuLka  ii.  8 ; 
Chagiga  ii.  2  ;  Edujoth  i.  1-4,  10, 11 ;  Ahoth  i.  12, 15,  v.  17  ;  Kelim  xxii.  4 ; 
Nidda  i.  1. 

^*''  Shebiith  X.  3  ;  Arachin  ix.  4. 

"8  Jer.  Taanith  iv.  2,  fol.  68^ ;  Bereslitli  rahha  c.  98,  on  Gen.  xlix.  10 
(see  Bereshith  rabha,  translated  by  Wünsche,  pp.  485,  557). 

^'^^  Delitzsch,  Jesus  und  Hillel,  pp.  9-11. 

**"  Delitzsch,  Jesus  und  Ilillcl,  p.  8. 


§  25.    SCPJBISM.  361 

scribe  of  the  time.  The  leading  features  of  liis  character  were 
the  gentleness  and  kindness  of  which  singular  proofs  are 
related.^^^  It  is  manifested  in  the  first  of  the  maxims  given 
above :  "  Be  a  disciple  of  Aaron,  a  lover  and  maker  of  peace, 
love  men  and  attract  them  to  the  law."  Shammai,  noted  for 
sternness,  and  also  called  "  the  elder,"  ]\>!f^,  was  the  antipodes 
of  the  gentle  Ilillel.^"  The  following  example  of  his  rigorous 
zeal  for  the  literal  observance  of  the  law  is  given  in  the 
Mishna.  When  his  daughter-in-law  brought  forth  a  child  on 
the  feast  of  Tabernacles,  he  had  the  ceiling  broken  through 
and  the  roof  over  the  bed  covered  with  boughs,  that  the  new- 
born child  also  might  keep  the  feast  according  to  the  precept 
of  the  law."^ 

The  tendencies  of  their  respective  schools  correspond  with 
the  mildness  of  Ilillel  and  the  strictness  of  Shammai.  The 
school  of  Ilillel  decided  legal  questions  in  a  mitigated,  that 
of  Shammai  in  an  aggravated  sense.^^*  As  they  are  however 
only  minutiae  on  which  the  difi'erence  turns,  it  will  not  be 
worth   while   to    follow   the   contrast    into    further  details.^" 

"I  Sec  Delitzsch,  p.  31  sq.  ^"2  q,.j^  ;;   5 .  ^■„j^.^.a  jj^  g, 

"3  Sukka  ii.  8.  "^  Udujoth  iv.  1-12,  v.  1-5. 

^^*  For  the  sake  of  those  who  may  desire  to  go  farther  into  the  subject 
I  here  give  all  those  passages  in  the  Mishna  in  which  diffiiriiccs  Icticccn  the 
two  schools  are  mentioned.  Berachoth  i.  3,  viii.  1-8;  Pea  iii.  1,  vi.  1,  2,  5, 
vii.  6;  Denial  i.  3,  vi.  6;  Kilajim  ii.  6,  iv.  1,  5,  vi.  1;  Shehiith  i.  1,  iv. 
2,  4,  10,  V.  4,  8,  viii.  3  ;  Tcrumoth  i.  4,  v.  4  ;  Maaseroth  iv.  2  ;  Maascr 
sheni  ii.  3,  4,  7,  8,  9,  iii.  6,  7,  9,  13,  iv.  8,  v.  3,  6,  7 ;  Challa  i.  C;  Orla  ii. 
4 ;  Shahhath  i.  4-9,  iii.  1,  xxL  3  ;  Eruhin  i.  2,  vi.  4,  C,  viiL  6  ;  Pcsachim 
i.  1,  iv.  5,  viii.  8,  x.  2,  6  ;  Shckalini  ii.  3,  viii.  6  ;  Snkka  i.  1,  7,  ii.  7,  iii. 
5,  9  ;  Beza  i.  1-9,  ii.  1-5;  liosh  hashana  i.  1  ;  Chagif/a  i.  1-3,  il  3,  4  ; 
Jthamoth  i.  4,  iii.  1,  5,  iv.  3,  vi.  6,  xiii.  1,  xv.  2,  3  ;  Kclhdwth  v.  G,  viii. 
1,  6;  Nedarini  iii.  2,  4;  Nasir  ii.  1,  2,  iii.  6,  7,  v.  1,  2,  3,  5  ;  Sota  iv.  2; 
Giitin  iv.  5,  viii.  4,  8,  9,  ix.  10 ;  Kiddushin  i.  1 ;  Baba  mczia  iii.  12  ;  Dahn 
balhra  ix.  8,  9  ;  Ednjolh  i.  7-14,  iv.  1-12,  v.  1-5;  Schachim  iv.  1  ;  Chullin 
i.  2,  viii.  1,  xi.  2  ;  Bcchoroth  v.  2  ;  Keriihoth  i.  G  ;  Kilim  i.v.  2,  xi.  3,  xiv.  2, 
xviii.  1,  XX.  2,  G,  xxii.  4,  xxvi.  6,  xxviii.  4,  xxix.  8 ;  Ohalolh  ii.  3,  v.  1-4, 
vii.  3,  xi.  1,  3-6,  8,  xiii.  1,  4,  xv.  8,  xviii.  1,  4,  8 ;  Para  xii.  10  ;  Tohoroth 
ix.  1,  5,  7,  X.  4  ;  Mikwaoth  i.  5,  iv.  1,  v.  6,  x.  G  ;  Nidda  ii.  4,  6,  iv.  3,  v.  9, 
X.  1,  4,  G-8 ;  Machshirin  i.  2-4,  iv.  4,  5,  v.  9  ;  Saliitn  i.  1-2  ;  Tchul  jom 
i.  1  ;  Jadajim  iii.  5;  Ukzin  iii.  G,  8,  11 ;  ^S12C*  n^3  only  :  Berachoth  vi.  5  ; 
Dcmai  iii.  1  ;  Kilajim  viii.  5  ;   Tcrximoth  iv.  3  ;  Orla  ii.  5,  12  ;  Beza  ii.  6  ', 


?G2  §  25.    SCPJBISM. 

Some  examples  may  suffice.  The  command  to  prepare  no 
food  on  the  Sabbath  was  extended  to  laying-hens,  and  hence 
it  was  debated,  whether  and  under  what  conditions  an  eg'^' 
laid  upon  a  holy  day  might  or  might  not  be  eaten,^®®  Or  it 
was  discussed,  whether  fringes  (Zizith)  were  needful  or  not  to 
a  square  linen  night-dress ;  ^^^  or  whether  on  a  holy  day  a 
ladder  might  be  carried  from  one  pigeon-house  to  another,  or 
might  only  be  slanted  from  one  hole  to  another.^*^  Of  ideas 
of  reformation,  which  Jewish  self-love  would  so  willingly 
have  us  believe  in,  there  is  not,  as  w^e  see,  a  single  word.  In 
practice  the  milder  school  of  Hillel  gained  in  the  course  of 
years  the  upper  hand,  though  in  many  points  it  voluntarily 
relinquished  its  own  view  and  assented  to  those  of  the  school 
of  Shammai,^^^  while  in  others  neither  the  opinion  of  Hillel 
nor  that  of  Shammai  was  subsequently  followed.^^ 

An  enactment,  contrary  indeed  to  the  law,  but  authorized 
by  the  state  of  things,  and  certainly  of  salutary  results,  is 
connected  with  the  name  of  Hillel.  The  legal  appointment 
of  a  release  of  all  debts  every  seventh  year  (Deut.  xv.  1-11) 
entailed  the  evil  consequence,  "  that  people  hesitated  to  lend 
each  other  money,"  although  the  law  itself  warned  against 
backwardness  in  lending  on  account  of  this  institution  (Deut. 
XV.  9).  In  order  then  to  do  away  with  this  evil,  the  so-called 
Prosbol  (?i2Tn3  =  irpoaßoX^),  i.e.  the  delivery  of  a  declaration, 

EdujotTi  iii.  10  ;  Mihwaoth  iv.  5.  This  list  of  passages  shows  that  the 
differences  relate  chiefly  to  the  matters  treated  of  in  the  first,  secoud,  third 
and  fifth  parts  of  the  ^lishna,  i.e.  (1)  religious  dues,  (2)  the  Sabbaths  and 
holy  days,  (3)  the  marriage  laws,  and  (4)  the  laws  of  purification,  and 
scarcely  at  all  to  those  treated  of  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  parts  (civil  and 
criminal  law  and  the  laws  of  sacrifice).  The  latter,  which  do  not  affect  the 
religious  acts  of  private  individuals,  but  either  purely  civil  or  sacerdotal 
transactions,  were  not  discussed  with  equal  zeal  in  the  schools.  The  civil 
and  criminal  law  did  not  on  the  whole  excite  the  same  interest  as  religious 
decrees.  It  is  however  probable  that  the  sacrificial  laws  had  already  been 
dealt  with  by  the  more  ancient  priestly  scribes,  and  lay  outside  the  direct 
sphere  of  Rabbinical  authority. 

^5«  Beza  i.  1  ;  Edujoth  iv.  1.     Delitzsch,  p.  21  sq. 

15^  Edujoth  iv.  10.  153  ßc~a  i.  3.  ^'^  Edujoth  i.  12-1-4. 

*' "  E.(].  Edujoth  i.  1-3.     Comp,  the  passages  cited  in  note  155. 


§  25.    SCEIBIS.M.  363 

or  as  we  should  say  a  registered  declaration,  was  introduced 
by  Hillel's  influence.^^^  It  was,  that  is  to  say,  allowed  to  a 
creditor  to  make  in  court  a  declaration  to  the  following  effect : 
^^}i}  3in  b^u  '•ji^Q  nipip3;i^  D''j»'nn  "»jSbz^  iji^a  C"k  u^b  ^^  ''Dio 
nris-ii''  l^r  b  «3JivC'  ^^,  "  I  so  and  so  deliver  ^^^  to  you  the 
judges  of  such  and  such  a  place  (the  declaration),  that  I  may 
at  any  time  I  choose  demand  the  payment  of  all  my  outstand- 
ing debts."  Such  a  reservation  made  before  a  court  secured 
the  creditor  even  during  the  Sabbath  year,  and  he  needed  not 
to  be  backward  in  lending  money  on  its  account.  Tims  credit 
was  again  laid  upon  a  more  solid  foundation.'"^ 

A  Simon,  said  also  to  be  the  father  of  Gamaliel  I.,  is  generally 
named  by  both  Jewish  and  Christian  scholars  as  the  son  of 
Hillel.  The  existence  of  this  Simon,  and  with  liim  the  whole 
genealogical  relation,  is  however  very  questionable.'®*  We 
do  not  reach  a  really  historical  personage  till  Gamaliel  I.,  I3"i 
I";^']   ''^\'^?,  as  he  is  called  in  the  Mishna,  in  distinction  from 

^''i  According  to  others  PHTIID  =  ■^rpoj  ßovT^vj»,  which  is  however  very- 
improbable. 

^*'' "IDD,  "to  deliver"  (whence  also  miOD,  tradition),  answers  to  the 
Greek  word  ■zpofrßä.Xkitu. 

^''^  Comp,  on  the  Prosbol  especially,  SJichiith  x.  3-7  (the  formula  will  bo 
found  Shehiith  x.  4)  ;  tlie  institution  by  Ilillel,  Shehiith  x.  3  ;  Gittin  iv.  3  ; 
generally  :  Pea  iii.  6  ;  Moed  katan  iii.  3  ;  Kethuboih  ix.  9  ;  Ukzin  iii.  lU. 
Such  Prosbol  declarations  are  indeed  to  be  understood  by  the  av,uß6Xcii» 
rüv  'hioxvitx.oTuv,  which,  according  to  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.,  were  deposited 
among  the  archives  at  Jerusalem.  Literature :  Buxtorf,  Lex.  Chald.  col. 
1806  sq.  Guisius  in  Surenhusius'  Ilishna,  i.  196.  Jost,  Gesch.  de.'i  Judenth. 
i.  265  sq.  Hamburger,  Rcal-Enc.  ii.  939  sq.  (art.  "Prosbol").  Levy, 
NcuTiehr.  Wvrtcrh.  s.v.  ^UT1"i3- 

^"^  He  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Mishna  at  all.  His  name  first  occurs  in 
the  Babylonian  Talmud,  and  there  not  as  the  son  of  Ilillel,  but  only  aa 
holder  of  the  dignity  of  Nasi  between  Hillel  and  Gamaliel  I.  Tlic  wholo 
passage  (Shahhaih  15*,  below)  is  aa  follows  :  pyjrni  bii'b^2i  p>'t3"'1  bbn 
r^:^  nXO  JT'DH  '':sh  jniX"''J'3  Ijnj.  "  Hillel  and  Simon,  Gamaliel  and 
Simon  held  the  dignity  of  Nasi,  during  tiie  time  of  the  existence  of  the 
temple,  for  a  hundred  years,"  i.e.  during  the  last  hundred  years  before  the 
destruction  of  the  temple.  Considering  the  worthlessncss  of  tliis  late 
Talmudic  information,  13.  Lebrecht  e.g.  is  quite  justified  in  disputing  the 
existence  of  this  Simon  altogether  (Geiger's  Jüdische  Zcitschr.  für  Wi^scnsih. 
und  Lebet},  xi.  1875,  p.  278,  note).  For  older  views  of  him,  see  Wolf, 
Biblioth.  Ilcbr.  ii.  8G1  sq. 


364  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

Gamaliel  11.^*"  It  was  at  his  feet  that  the  Apostle  Paul  sat 
(Acts  xxii.  3) ;  and  it  was  he  who  once  gave  counsel  in  the 
Sanhedrim  to  release  the  accused  apostles,  since  their  work,  if 
it  were  of  man,  would  come  to  nought,  while  if  it  were  of  God, 
it  was  in  vain  to  oppose  it  (Acts  v.  34-39).  Christian  tradition 
has  in  consequence  of  this  represented  him  as  being  a  Chris- 
tian,^''^ while  Jewish  tradition  glorifies  him  as  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  teachers.  "  Since  Eabban  Gamaliel  the  elder  died 
there  has  been  no  more  reverence  for  the  law  (nninn  HUS)  ; 
and  purity  and  abstinence  (nv^'nD'i  rnriD)  died  out  at  the  same 
time."^®'     That  he  was  as  little  the  president  of  the  Sanhedrim 

^''^  Orla  ii.  12  ;  RosTi  hashatia  iL  5  ;  Jehamoth  xvi.  7  ;  Sota  ix.  1.5  ;  Gittin 
iv.  2-3.  In  all  these  passages  he  is  expressly  called  "the  elder"  (jp^n). 
Independently  of  Ahoih  i.  16,  this  elder  Gamaliel  is  probably  meant  also 
in  Pea  ii.  6  and  Shekalim  vi.  1.  In  other  passages  this  is  doubtful.  In 
particular  the  famous  jurist  Slav  Tabi  (>DD)  was  not  in  the  service  of  the 
elder,  but  of  the  younger  Gamaliel  {Bcrachoili  ii.  7  ;  PesacTiim  vii.  2  ;  Sukka 
ii.  1).  Comp,  in  general,  Graunii,  Historia  Gamaliclis,  Viteb.  1C87. 
A\^olf,  BihUoth.  Hebraea,  ii.  821  sq.  The  same,  Curae  philol.  in  Nov.  Test, 
on  Acts  V.  3i.  Palmer,  Paulus  und  Gamaliel,  Giessen  1806.  Winer, 
RWB.  i.  389.  Pressel  in  Herzog's  Real-Enc,  1st  ed.  656  sq.  Grätz, 
Gesch.  der  Juden,  ord  ed.  iii.  373  sqq.  Jost,  Gesch.  des  Judenth.  \.  281  sqq., 
423.  Ewald,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Israel,  vi.  p.  2.56  sq.  Derenbourg. 
Histoire  de  la  Palestine,  pp.  239-246.  Schenkel  in  the  Bibellex.  ii.  328-33U. 
Hamburger,  Rcal-Enc,  Div.  ii.  art.  "  Gamaliel  I." 

'"''  Clement.  Rtcogn.  i.  65  sqq.  Comp,  also  the  narrative  of  the  presbytir 
Lucianus  of  Jerusalem  on  the  finding  of  the  bones  of  the  martyr  Stephen 
(in  Latin  in  Surius,  Vitae  Sanctorum,  iv.  502  sqq.  (3  August)  ;  Baroniiis, 
Annal.  ad  ann.  415,  and  in  the  Benedictine  edition  of  Augustine,  vol.  vii. 
Appendix),  according  to  which  tl;e  bones  of  Nicodemus,  Gamaliel  and  his 
son  Abiba,  who  all  here  figure  as  Christians,  were  found  at  the  same  time 
as  those  of  Stephen.  This  legend  of  Lucianus,  which  was  already  known 
to  Genuadius,  Vitae,  46,  47  (see  also  Fabricius,  BihUoth.  graeca,  ed.  Harles, 
x.  327),  was  drawn  upon  by  the  presbyter  Eustratius  of  Constantinople, 
Gth  century,  in  his  book  on  the  state  of  the  dead,  cap.  23  (published  in 
Greek  by  Leo  Allatius  1655  ;  see  Fabricius,  Bihl.  gr.  x.  725,  xi.  623). 
Lastly,  Photius  gives  extracts  from  Eustratius  in  his  Bihliotheca  cod.  171. 
On  a  monument  of  the  three  saints,  Gamaliel,  Abibas  and  Nicodemus  at 
Pisa,  see  AVagenseil  on  Sota  ix.  15  (in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  iii.  314  sq.). 
Comp,  also  Thilo,  Cod.  apocr.  p.  501 ;  NiUes,  Kalendarium  Manuale  (1879), 
p.  232,  and  the  literature  there  cited. 

^'"'  Sota  ix.  15.  niinn  tub  means  "reverence  for  the  law;"  see 
Wagenseil  in  Surenhusius'  Mishna,  iii.  312,  n.  13,  315,  n.   20.     Comp. 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  365 

as  Hillel  was,  appears  from  Acts  v.  34  sqq.,  where  he  figures 
as  a  simple  member  of  it.  Much  confusion  concerning  him 
ha8  arisen,  especially  among  Christian  scholars,  by  attributing 
to  him  matters  which  apply  to  Gamaliel  II.,  e.g.  labours  at 
Jahne  and  elsewhere. 

His  son  Simon  also  enjoyed  extraordinary  fame  as  a 
scribe.^^^  Josephus  says  of  him :  '^  'O  Be  l!l/xcov  ouro<;  rju 
TToXeo)?  fXGV  'lepoaoXvficov,  <yevov<;  he  acjioBpa  XafXTrpov,  t?}?  Se 
^apiaaiwv  alpiaeco^,  ot  irepX  ra  irdrpia  vajxifia  hoKovat  rdv 
oKXojv  cLKpißela  Bia(f)ipeip.  ''Hv  S'  ovTo<i  uvtjp  7rX-)]p7]<i 
(Tvveae(ji}<i  re  Koi  Xoytafiov,  Buvd/u,ev6<;  re  TTpay/xaTU  KaKci)<i 
K6Lfji6Pa  (f)pov7](rec  t?]  eaurov  BiopdojaaaOai.  lie  lived  at  the 
time  of  the  Jewish  war,  and  during  its  first  period  (a.D.  6G-G8) 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  conduct  of  affairs.  Still  neither 
was  he  at  any  time  president  of  the  Sanhedrim. 

Of  profound  importance  to  the  further  development  of 
Bcribism  was  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  destruction  of 
the  hitherto  relative  independence  of  the  Jewish  common- 
wealth. The  ancient  Sanhedrin,  at  the  head  of  which  had 
stood  the  Sadducean  high  priests,  now  for  ever  retired  from 
the  stage.  The  Pharisaic  teachers  of  the  law,  who  during  the 
last  century  before  the  destruction  of  the  temple  had  already 
actually  exercised  very  great  influence,  became  the  sole 
leaders  of  the  people.  Hence  the  direct  result  of  the  political 
fall  was  an  increase  of  Eabbinical  power  and  an  exaltation  of 
Eabbinical  studies.  Henceforth  our  authorities  became  more 
copious, — the  first  codification  of  Jewish  law  having  been 
undertaken  by  men  directly  connected  with  the  generation 
which  survived  the  fall  of  the  city. 

Nedarim  ix.  1:  V2X  lUD  =  "  respect  towards  his  father."  So  too  Ahoth 
iv.  12.  The  sense  thus  is,  that  no  one  any  longer  had  such  reverence  for 
the  law  as  Kabban  Gamaliel  the  elder. 

1C8  Comp.  Joseph.  Bell.  Jud.  iv.  3.  9 ;  Vitn,  38,  39,  44,  fiO.  Jost,  i.  44 G 
sqq.  Derenbourg,  pp.  270-272,  474  sq.  Hamburger,  Rcal-Enc.  ii.  1121. 
By  the  Rabban  Simon  ben  Gamaliel,  so  frequently  mentioned  in  tlie 
Mi-shna,  is  generally  intended  the  son  of  Gamaliel  II.  So  especially  in  Abolh 
i.  18:  Kerithoth  i.  7  alone,  besides  Aboth  i.  17,  refers  perhaps  to  Simon  the 
sou  of  Gamaliel  i.  '<"•  Vita,  US. 


366  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

Jamnia  or  Jabne,  which  had  since  the  Maccabaean  period 
been  chiefly  inhabited  by  Jews,  became  after  the  destruction 
of  the  holy  city  a  chief  seat  of  these  studies.  The  most 
distinguished  of  tliose  scholars,  who  survived  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
salem, seem  to  have  settled  here/^"  Lydda  or  Lud  is  besides 
mentioned  as  an  abode  of  eminent  scribes."^  Later  on, 
perhaps  subsequent  to  the  middle  of  the  second  century  after 
Christ,  Tiberias  became  a  centre  of  scribisra. 

The  most  important  scribe  in  the  decade  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  was  Eabban  Johanan  ben  Sakkai/^^  The 
period  of  his  activity  is  evident  from  the  circumstance,  that 
he  altered  several  legal  enactments  or  customs  "  after  the 
temple  was  destroyed."  "^  His  place  of  residence  seems  to 
have  been  chiefly  Jabne/"  But  Berur  Chail  {bf^n  "ina)  is  also 
mentioned  as  a  scene  of  his  labours. "**  And  he  must  like- 
wise have  temporarily  sojourned  in  Arab  (any),  where  various 
legal  questions  were  propounded  for  his  decision.^^^     Among 

^'°  See  in  general,  Shelcalim  i.  4  ;  Rash  Tiashana  ii.  8-9,  iv.  1-2  ;  Kethuhoth 
iv.  6  ;  Sanhedrin  xi.  4  ;  Edujoth  ii.  4  ;  Ahoth  iv.  4  ;  Bechuroih  iv.  5,  vi.  8 , 
Ktlim  V.  4  ;  Para  vii.  6. 

'^^  Rosh  hashana  i.  6  ;   Taanith  iii.  9  ;  Baha  niezia  iv.  3 ;  Jadajim  iv,  3. 

^^2  gee  concerning  liim  the  Hebrew  works  of  Frankel,  Brüll  and  Weisa 
(titles  above,  §  3),  also  Jost,  Gesch.  des  Judenthums  und  seiner  Sekten,  ii. 
13  sqq.  Landau,  Monutsschr.  für  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Judenth. 
1851-52,  pp.  163-176.  Grätz,  Gesch.  der  Juden,  iv.  10  sqq.  Derenbourg, 
Jlisioire  de  la  Pedcstine,  pp.  266  sq.,  276-288,  302-318.  Hamburj;er,  Real- 
Enc,  Div.  ii.  pp.  464-473.  Bacher,  Monatsschr.  für  Gesch.  und  Wissensch. 
des  Judenth.  1882,  pp.  145-165.  Spitz,  Ruhhan  Johanan  ben  Sakkai,  Rector 
der  Hochschule  zu  Jahneh,  Dissertation,  Leipzig  1883.  He  is  mentioned 
in  the  Mishna  in  the  following  passages:  Shahhath  xvi.  7,  xxii.  3  ;  Shekalim 
i.  4  ;  Sukka  ii.  5,  iii.  12 ;  Rosh  hashana  iv.  1,  3  ;  Kethuhoth  xiii.  1-2  ;  Sota 
V.  2,  5,  ix.  9,  15 ;  Edajoth  vüi.  3,  7  ;  Ahoth  ii.  8-9  ;  Menachoth  x.  5  ;  Kelun 
ii.  2,  xvii.  16;  Jadajim  v.  3,  6.  Only  as  ''xnT  ''^j  Sanhedrin  v.  2.  For  the 
passages  in  the  Tosefta,  see  the  index  to  Zuckermanders  edition. 

i'3  Sukka  iii.  12  ;  Rosh  hashana  iv.  1,  3,  4  ;  Menachoth  x.  5. 

^^■*  Shekalim  i.  4  ;  /fo.s'A  hashana  iv.  1. 

^^^  Sanhedrin  32b;  Tosefta,  Maaseroth,  82.  13  (comp.  Jer.  Demai  iii.  1, 
fol.  23^  ;  Jer.  Manseroth  ii.  3,  fol.  49'^).  Derenbourg,  307.  Many,  as  e.f/. 
B.  Derenbourg,  are  of  opinion  that  Johanan  ben  Sakkai  was  drivt-n  from 
Jabne  by  Gamaliel  IL  and  retired  to  Berur  Chad. 

^^"^  Shahhath  xvi.  7,  xxii.  3.  Arab  is  a  small  town  in  Galilee  not  far  from 
Sepphoris,     See  Derenbourg,  Ilistoire,  p.  318,  note  3. 


§  25.    SCmiJiSM.  oG7 

his  legal  innovations  perhaps  the  most  prominent  is  his  doing 
away  with  the  water  of  bitterness  to  be  drunk  by  one  accused 
of  adultery.^"  How  closely  connected  he  still  was  with 
matters  as  they  were  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  is 
seen  by  the  fact  of  his  disputing  concerning  legal  questions 
with  Sadducees/'^*  who  soon  after  it  disappear  from  history. 
He  is  also  tlie  vehicle  of  ancient  traditions  which  are  referred 
to  Moses  himself.^^"  Legend  tells  us  of  him  what  Josephus 
tells  us  of  himself,  viz.  that  he  predicted  to  Vespasian  his 
future  elevation  to  the  imperial  dignity.""  R  Elieser  ben 
Hyrkanos,  R  Joshua  ben  Chananiali,  R  Joses  the  priest,  R 
Simon  ben  Nathanael  and  E.  Eleasar  ben  Arach  are  named 
ill  the  Mishna  as  his  five  disciples,"*  The  best  known  and 
most  eminent  are  the  two  first  named,  R  Elieser  and  R 
Joshua. 

R  Zadok,  or  as  his  name  would  be  more  correctly  pro- 
nounced, R  Zadduk,"^  was  about  contemporary  with  TJabban 
Johanan  ben  Sakkai.  He  is  said  to  have  lived  before  the 
destruction  of  the  temple,  and  also  to  have  held  intercourse 
Avith  Gamaliel  IL,  Joshua  and  Elieser."^  He  is  in  fact  often 
mentioned  in  conjunction   with   them  in  the   Mishna."*      In 

^'^^  Sota  ix.  9.  Nine  decrees  (niJpn)  introduced  by  him  are  enumerated 
in  the  Talmud,  Rosh  hashana  ?A^  ;  Sota  \i)\     Deren bourg,  p.  304  sq. 

''^  Jadojim  iv.  6. 

1^3  Editjoth  viii.  7  ;  Jailajim  iv.  3,^/?.     Comp,  above,  p.  272. 

^^'*  Midrash  rahha  on  L;un.  1,  5.  Derenbourg,  p.  282  sq.  ;  Wiinsclie, 
Der  Midrash  Echa  rahlnti  (1881),  p.  Gß  sqq. 

^8^  Aboth  ii.  8-  9.  The  abbreviation  li  moans  Rabbi,  wliile  the  higher 
title  Rabbau  is  gonendly  written  in  full. 

**2  See  concerning  iiim,  Derenbourg,  pp.  342-341.  Bacher,  JJnnatssc/ir. 
für  (^each.  vnd  Wisscmch.  des  Judciith.  1882,  pp.  208-211.  In  the  Mishna, 
Terumoth  x.  9  ;  J'esachim  vii.  2  ;  Sukka  ii.  5 ;  Ncdariin  ix.  1  ;  Edvjoth  iii. 
8,  vii.  1-4  ;  Ahoth  iv.  5;  Bechoroth  i.  6  ;  Kcllm  xii.  4-5;  Mikwaoth  v.  5. 
On  Shahhath  xx.  2,  xxiv.  5,  comp,  note  185.  For  the  passages  in  the 
Tosefta,  see  the  index  to  Zuckermanders  edition.  The  pronunciation 
Zadduk  is  pointed  according  to  the  Cod.  de  Rossi  138.  Comp.  "I^uooovk  in 
the  LXX.  in  IJzekicl,  K/.ra  an.l  Nelieniiaii, 

1*^  Proofs  of  both  in  Derenbourg  and  Bachcr's  abovo-namod  \vnrk.s. 

>***  With  Gamaliel  II.,  J'csarhim  vii.  2;  with  Jushua.  Elujotli  viL  i=» 
liichoroth  i.  6  ;  with  Kiiescr,  Ncdarim  ix.  1. 


368  §  25.    SCRIBISM. 

certain  passages,  according  to  whicli  the  date  of  his  life  would 
have  to  be  considerably  postponed,  a  subsequent  E.  Zadok  is 
probably  intended.^^ 

To  the  first  decades  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple 
belongs  also  a  distinguished  priestly  scribe,  K.  Chananiah, 
"  president  of  the  priests "  (□"•jnDn  po)."^  He  relates  what 
his  father  had  done,  and  what  he  had  himself  seen  in  the 
temple,^^'  and  appears  in  the  Mishna  almost  entirely  as  a 
narrator  of  the  details  of  the  priestly  ritual/^^  It  is  charac- 
teristic of  him  as  an  eminent  priest,  that  he  exhorts  to  prayer 
for  the  welfare  of  the  heathen  authorities/^^ 

E.  Elieser  ben  Jacob  ^^'^  also  belongs  to  the  first  generation 
after  the  destruction  of  the  temple.  For  it  is  very  probable 
that  a  former  scribe  of  the  same  name  must  be  distinguished 
from  the  considerably  later  E.  Elieser  ben  Jacob  so  frequently 
quoted  in  the  Mishna.  He  flourished  not  long  after  the 
destruction  of  the  teraple,^^^  in  which  his  uncle  had 
ministered  as  a  Levite,^^^  and  he  is  frequently  quoted  as  an 
authority  in  the  treatise  Middotli ;  ^^^  nay,  subsequent  tradition 

^^^  So  Shahhath  xx.  2,  xxiv.  5.  Comp.  Bacher,  Monatssclir.  1882,  p. 
215.  If  we  acknowledge  the  existence  of  this  subsequent  E.  Zadok,  the 
question  of  course  arises,  whether  other  passages  must  not  also  be  referred 
to  him. 

^''5*'  See  Derenbourg,  pp.  368-370.  Hamburger,  Real-Enc.  ii.  131,  and 
Bacher,  Monatssclir.  1882,  pp.  21G-219.  His  name  according  to  the  best 
authorities  is  not  Chauina  but  Chananiah  (so  Cod.  de  Rossi  138,  and  the 
Cambridge  MS.  edited  by  Lowe).  On  the  ofEce  of  a  priestly  pD,  see 
above,  p.  259. 

'^^'  Sehachim  ix.  3,  xii.  4. 

^^^  See  in  general,  Pesachim  i.  6  ;  Shekalim  iv.  4,  vi.  1 ;  Ediijotli  ii.  1-3  ; 
Ahoth  iii.  2;  Sehacliim  ix.  3,  xii.  4;  Menachoth  x.  1  ;  Negaimi.  4;  Para 
iii.  1. 

189  Ahotl  iii.  2. 

i""  Dereubourg,  p.  374  sq.     Bacher,  Monatssclir.  1882,  pp.  228-233. 

1^1  So  also  Derenbourg,  375,  n.  2,  and  Bacher,  228.  The  younger  Elieser 
ben  Jacob  w\as  a  contemporary  of  R.  Simon  about  A.D.  150  (Pai-a  ix.  2),  and 
narrates  in  the  name  of  Chananiah  ben  Chakinai,  who  again  narrates  in 
that  of  R.  Akiba  (Kilajim  iv.  8.  Tosefta,  Ncgaim  617.  38 ;  Tohoroth  072. 
16,  ed.  Zuckermandel). 

-92  MidJoth  i.  2. 

"«  Middoth  i.  2,  9,  ii.  5,  6,  v.  4.     Comp.  Slickalim  vi.  3. 


§  25.    SCKIBISM.  369 

even  ascribes  to  him  the  composition  of  the  whole  treatise.^*' 
It  can  no  Ioniser  be  decided  in  particular  cases  which  passages 
are  to  be  attributed  to  him  and  which  to  E.  Elieser  ben 
Jacob  the  younger.  Perhaps  the  statements  on  circumstances 
of  ritual  may  be  referred  to  the  elder/'" 

Eabban  Gamaliel  II.,  son  of  Simon  and  grandson  of  Gama- 
liel I.,  the  most  renowned  scholar  of  the  turn  of  the  century 
(about  A.D.  90-110),  lived  only  a  few  decades  later  than 
Johanan  ben  Sakkai."*^  The  tribunal  at  Jabne,  of  which  he 
was  the  head,  was  in  his  days  generally  acknowledged  as  the 
chief  authority  in  Israel.^^^  The  most  famous  scholars  were 
here  assembled  about  him,  and  in  this  respected  circle  Gama- 
liel was  reckoned  the  decisive  authority.^®*  Among  the 
scholars  in  close  intercourse  with  him,  E.  Joshua,  about  his 
equal  in  age,  and  E.  Akiba,  his  junior,  were  the  most 
eminent."*^  On  the  other  hand,  Gamaliel  does  not  seem  to 
have  entered  into  close   relations   with   his  famous   contem- 

i'-*  Joma  16a.     Dereubourg,  o74,  u.  1. 

1^^  E.g.  the  statements  conceruiug  the  marriages  of  priests  (Bikkurim  i.  5  ; 
Kiddushin  iv.  7),  the  sacrificial  rites  (Menachoth  v.  6,  ix.  3 ;  Tamid  v.  2), 
the  first-born  of  cattle  (Bcchoroth  iii.  1),  the  sacred  singers  (Arachin  ii.  6), 
the  offerings  of  proselytes  (Kcrithoih  ii.  1). 

i^*'  See  concerning  him  the  Hebrew  works  of  Frankel,  Brüll  and  Weiss, 
also  Jost,  Gesch.  des  Judenlh.  ii.  25  sqq.  Landau,  Mortatsxchr.  für  Gesch. 
und  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  1851-52,  pp.  283-295,  323-335.  Grätz, 
Geschichte  der  Juden,  iv.  30  sqq.,  423  sq.  Derenbourg,  pp.  30G-313,  319- 
3-46.  Hamburger,  Rcal-Enc.  ii.  237-250.  Bacher,  Monalsschr.  1882,  pp. 
245-2G7.  The  chronology  results  from  the  fact  that  his  younger  contem- 
porary Akiba  played  a  part  in  the  Barkochba  war. 

i'-*^  Rosh  hashana  ii.  8-9  ;  Kelim  v.  4.  Comp.  Derenbourg,  pp.  319-322. 
He  seems  to  have  sojourned  but  temporarily  at  Kefar-Othnai,  where  we 
only  once  (Giltin  i.  5)  meet  with  Gamaliel. 

198  Hence  when  once  during  a  protracted  absence  of  Gamaliel  it  had  to 
be  decided,  whether  tlie  year  was  to  be  a  leap  year,  this  was  only  done  with 
the  reservation  that  Gamaliel  should  agree  to  it  (Eilnjolli  vii.  7).  Comii. 
al.so  for  the  authoritative  po.sition  of  Gamaliel,  the  formula  "  Kabban  Gama- 
liel and  the  elders''  (Maaser  shod  v.  9  ;  Shahhalh  xvi.  8 ;   Eriihin  x.  10). 

i"'-'  Uli  the  mutual  relations  of  Gamaliel,  Joshua  and  Akiba,  comp,  especially. 
iSIaascr  sheni  v.  9  ;  Erubin  iv.  1  ;  Ji'osh  hashana  ii.  8-9  ;  Maaxcr  shciii  ii.  7  ; 
Siikku  iii.  9  ;  KirUhoih  iii.  7-9  ;   Ncfjaim  vii.   1.     Gamaliel  and  Joshua. 
Jadajlin  iv.  4.     Gamaliel  and  Akiba,  Ro.sh  ha.ihana  i.  6  ;  Jchamolk  xvi.  7. 
DIV,  II.  VOL.  I.  2  A 


370  §  25,    SCRICISM. 

porary  E.  Elicser  ben  Hyrcanus,  At  least  there  is  no  trace 
of  this  in  the  Mislina,  while  subsequent  tradition  on  the 
contrary  relates  that  Elieser  was  excommunicated  by  Gama- 
liel (see  below).  Gamaliel  once  undertook  in  conjunction 
with  E.  Joshua,  E.  Akiba  and  the  equally  renowned  E.  Eleasar 
ben  Asariah,  a  sea  voyage  to  Eome,  which  obtained  a  certain 
celebrity  in  Eabbinical  literature.^"^  He  is  said  to  have  been 
on  one  occasion  removed  by  the  seventy -two  elders  from  the 
presidential  dignity  on  account  of  his  too  autocratic  dealings, 
and  E.  Eleasar  ben  Asariah  to  have  been  appointed  to  replace 
him.  Gamaliel  was  however,  on  showing  contrition,  soon 
reinstated  in  his  office,  which  Eleasar  voluntarily  vacated.^^^ 
The  elevation  of  Eleasar  by  tlie  seventy-two  elders  to  the 
headship  of  the  school  is  at  any  rate  evidenced  by  the 
j\Iishna."'^"  In  his  legal  decisions  Gamaliel  followed  the  school 
of  Hillel ;  it  is  mentioned  as  an  exception,  that  in  three  things 
he  decided  in  an  aggravated  sense,  according  to  the  school  of 
Shammai."**'^  In  general  he  is  characterized  as  much  by  legal 
strictness  on  the  one  liand,^"*  as  on  the  other  by  a  certain 
amount  of  worldly  conformity,  nay  of  candour  of  judgment.^^'^ 
The  two  most  celebrated  contemporaries  of  Gamaliel  were 
E.  Joshua  ben  Chananiah  and  E.  Eliesev  ben  Hyrcanus,  both 
pupils  of  Johanan  ben  Sakkai.-""  We  frequently  find  them 
disputing  with  each  other  on  legal  questions,  and  Akiba  the 

-0»  Ertihin  iv.  1-2  ;  Maaner  sheui  v.  9  ;  Shalhalh  xvi.  8.  Grätz, 
Monatssclir.  f.  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Judentli.  1851-52,  pp.  192-202. 
Derenbourg,  pp.  334-340.  Renan,  Les  e'vangiles  (1877),  p.  307  sqq. 
Bacher,  Alonatsschr.  1882,  p.  251  sqq. 

-"^  Jci:  Berachotli  iv.  1,  io\.  T'^'^ ;  Bub.  Berachoth  27''  (in  German  in  Pinner, 
Talmud  Bahll  Tractat  Beraclioth,  1842,  in  Latin  in  Surenhusius'  Mlshna,  ii. 
337,  iii.  247).  Jost,  Gesch.  des  Judenth.  ii.  28  sqq.  Grätz,  Gesch.  der 
Jaden.,  iv.  35  sqq.     Derenbourg,  pp.  327-329. 

-"-  Sehachim  i.  3  ;  Jadajim  iii.  5,  iv.  2. 

-"3  Beza  ii.  6  ;  Edujoth  iii.  10.  -»*  Berachoth  ii.  5-6. 

-^'^  Comp,  beside  tlie  journey  to  Ronie,  Ins  intercouise  with  the  governor 
(hegemon)  of  Syria  {Ednjoth  vii.  7)  and  his  visit  to  the  bath  of  Aphrodite 
at  Akko,  although  there  was  there  a  statue  of  the  heathen  goddess  {Aboda 
mra  iii.  4). 

^°*''  Aboth  ii.  8.     Comp.  Edujoth  viii.  7  ;  Jadajim  iv.  o,ßn. 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  371 

younger  taking  jiart  in  these  discussionp.""'  With  Gamaliel 
however  Joshua  only,  and  not  Elieser,  seems  to  have  been  in 
familiar  intercourse.  According  to  later  tradition  this  would 
be  explained  by  the  fact  that  Elieser  was  excommunicated  by 
Gamaliel.'*'^  It.  Joshua  was  descended  from  a  Levitical 
family.^"*  He  was  of  a  gentle  and  yielding  disposition,  and 
hence  submitted  to  the  unbending  Gamaliel.^^"  "  Since  the 
death  of  li.  Joshua,  there  is  no  longer  any  kind-heartedness 
(naiü)  in  the  world."  ^^'  His  motto  was,  "  En\7-,  evil  desire  and 
hatred  bring  a  man  out  of  the  world.^'^  Pekiin  or  Bekiin 
(yV'pVi  TVP^),  is  named  as  the  place  of  his  labours.^*^  His 
close  relations  with  Gamaliel  however  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  also  resided  partly  at  Jabne.  Tradition  relates  of 
him,  among  other  things,  that  he  had  various  conversations 
with  the  Emperor  Hadrian  on  religious  subjects.^^*  In  con- 
trast with  the  yielding  Joshua,  Elieser  was  of  a  firm,  unbending 
character,  and  a  very  strict  adherent  to  tradition,  over  which, 
by  reason  of  his  faithful  memory  and  extensive  scholarship, 
he     had    more    influence    than     any    other.^^*     His    teacher 

-"^  Oq  the  mutual  relations  of  Joshua,  Elieser  aud  Akiba,  comp, 
especially  Pcsachim  vi.  2 ;  Jchamoih  viii.  4 ;  Nedarim  x.  6 ;  Nasir  vii.  4  ; 
Edujoth  ii.  7.  On  Josluia  aufl  Elieser,  Pcsachim  vi.  5 ;  Taanith  i.  1 : 
Sebachim  vii.  4,  viii.  10  ;  Nasir  vii.  4.  On  Joshua  aud  Akiba,  Pisachim  ix.  G; 
Sanhedriii  vii.  11.  On  EÜL'ser  and  Akiba,  Pea  vii.  7;  Kcrifhot/i  iii.  1((; 
Shebiith  viii.  9-10. 

208  Jer.  Mocd  Katan  iii.  1,  fol.  81'1  ;  Bab.  Baha  luczia  b9^  ;  Jost,  Gesch. 
de.f  Judenth.  ii.  35.    Grätz,  Gesch.  der  Juden,  iv.  47.     Dcrcnbourg,  324  sq. 

-^^  This  appears  from  Maaser  shcni  v.  9.  Comp,  on  Jo.«hua,  the 
Hebrew  works  of  Fraukel,  Brüll  and  Weiss  ;  also  Grätz,  G(sch.  der  Juden, 
iv.  50  sqq.,  42G  sq.  Dcrcnbourg,  pp.  019  sqq.,  41()  sqq.  Hainburgcr,  Rcal- 
Eiic.  ii.  510-520.  Bacher,  Mmmtsschr.  1882,  pp.  040-359,  4.';3-4(i4,  481-496. 

^"'  liosh  hashonn  ii.  8-9.     Dcrcnbourg,  32,^-327. 

-'^  Sota  ix.  15. 

212  Ahuih  ii.  11:  nvnnn  nwn  i;in  -i^*''i  y-in  py. 

213  py*pa,  Savhedrin  32  ;  Toscfta,  Sota  307,  8.  \'']}'>p2,  Jtr.  Chagiga 
i.  1.     Dcrcnbourg,  307. 

21*  Bacher,  Afoitalsschr.  18s2,  pp.  4(51  sqq.,  Isi  .•^qq. 

21^  See  the  Hebrew  works  of  Franke),  Brüll  and  Wci.-^s ;  also  Gratz, 
Gesch.  der  Juden,  iv.  4:5  .sq.,  42.")  sq.  Dcrcnbourg,  319  sqq.,  366  sqi[. 
Hamburger,  ii.  ir)2-l<i8.  BmcImt.  M<niatssrhr.  ISs^',  pp.  2S9-315,  337-3.VJ, 
433-445. 


372  §  25.    SCEIBISM. 

Jühanan  ben  Sakkni  boasted  of  him,  that  he  was  like  a  well 
coated  with  lime,  which  does  not  loose  a  single  drop.^^°  He 
was  not  to  be  moved  by  any  reasons  or  representations  from 
what  he  knew  as  tradition.  Hence  his  strained  relations  with 
Gamaliel,  although  he  is  said  to  have  been  his  brother-in- 
law.*^'^  His  dwelling-place  was  Lydda.^^*  The  strange 
opinion  of  a  modern  scholar,  that  he  was  inclined  to  Chris- 
tianity, nay  was  secretly  a  Christian,^^®  rests  upon  a  legend 
which  really  proves  the  contrary.  Elieser  is  at  one  time 
brought  before  a  heathen  tribunal,  and  looks  upon  this  as  a 
just  punishment  of  God  for  his  having  been  pleased  with  the 
ingenious  solution  of  a  legal  question,  which  a  Jewish 
Christian  had  communicated  to  him  as  having  been  derived 
from  Jesus.^"*^ 

E.  Eleasar  ben  Asariah,"^'  a  rich  and  eminent  priest,  whose 
genealogy  is  traced  back  to  Ezra,  also  occupies  an  honourable 
position  together  with  those  last  mentioned.^^^  His  wealth 
was  so  great,  that  it  was  said  that  after  his  death  there  was  no 
longer  any  wealth  among  the  learned.^^^  His  relations  with 
Gamaliel,  Joshua  and  Akiba,  his  journey  with  them  to  Eome, 
his  elevation  by  the  seventy-two  elders  to  the  office  of 
president,  and  his  voluntary  relinquishment  of  this  position 
have    been   already   spoktn    of.       It    is    evident    even    from 

216  Aboth  ii.  8.  217  ShaUath  116».     Derenbourg,  823. 

218  Jadajim  iv.  3  ;  SunJicdrin  82k     Derenbourg,  307. 

219  Toetterman,  E.  Eliezer  ben  Hyrcanos  sive  de  vi  qua  doctrina  Christiana 
primis  seculis  illustrissimos  quosdani  Judaeorum  attraxit,  Lipsiae  1877. 
Comp.  Theol.  Litztg.  1877,  pp.  687-689. 

220  There  are  two  versions  of  this  legend  ;  (1)  Ahoda  sara  16^  in  Ger- 
man in  Ewald's  Ahoda  sarah  oder  der  Götzendienst,  1868,  pp.  120-122 : 
(2)  Midrash  rabba  on  Eccles.  i.  8  in  German  in  Wünsche,  Der  Midrasch 
Kolitleth,  1880,  p.  14  sq.  See  in  general,  Jost,  ii.  41  sq.  Grätz,  iv.  47  sq. 
Derenbourg,  357-360.     Bacher,  Monatsschr.  1882,  p.  801. 

221  See  concerning  him,  Derenbourg,  327  sqq.  Hamburger,  ii.  156-158. 
Bacher,  Monatsschr.  1883,  pp.  6-27.  According  to  the  best  authorities, 
his  name  is  not  Elieser  but  Eleasar  (in  the  Cod.  de  Rossi  138,  and  in  the 
Cambridge  MS.  generally,  "iTy^). 

222  Bacher,  Monai^mrh:  1883,  p.  7.  Tiiat  he  was  a  priest  is  clear  from 
Maaser  slieni  v.  9 

223  Sotaiyi.  15, 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  3*73 

these  personal  circumstances  that  he  must  have  laboured  in 
Jahne,  a  fact  also  testified  elsewhere."'*  He  was  also  in 
personal  relation  with  E.  Ishmael  and  R.  Tarphon,  the  contem- 
poraries of  Akiba.^^® 

E.  Dosa  ben  Archinos  (or  Harkinos)  was  another  con- 
temporary of  Gamaliel  and  Josliua.^^*'  Of  him  it  is  especially 
stated,  that  he  induced  Joshua  to  submit  to  Gamaliel.^^' 

Among  the  later  men  of  this  generation  is  also  Eleasar  ben 
Zadok,  son  of  the  already  mentioned  E.  Zadok.^^^  The  son 
was,  as  well  as  the  father,  intimately  acquainted  with  Gamaliel, 
and  hence  gives  information  concerning  his  enactments  and 
the  legal  customs  of  his  house.'"'' 

E.  Ishmael  occupies  an  independent  position  among  the 
scribes  of  the  time.^'"*'  We  find  him  indeed  occasionally  in 
Jabne,'^^  He  was  also  intimate  with  his  renowned  contem- 
poraries   E.    Joshua,    Eleasar    ben    Asariah,    Tarphon,    and 

2-*  Kethuhoth  iv.  6.     Some  sentences  of  Eleasar  ia  Aboth  iii.  17. 

'-^  A  disputation  between  him,  Tarphon,  Ishmael  and  Joshua  is  given 
Jadajim  iv.  3.  Eleasar  and  Ishmael  in  Tosefta,  Berachoih  1,  lin.  15,  ed. 
Zuckermandel.  Eleasar  and  Akiba,  Tosefta,  Beraclioth  i.  12  ;  Shabbath 
113.  23. 

2-^  See  Derenbourg,  368  sq.,  370  sq.  Hamburger,  ii.  155.  His  name  is, 
in  Cod.  de  Rossi  138,  DJ''3"1S,  elsewhere  generally  DJ^JDTH,  but  is  in  any  case 
not  like  Hyrcanus,  but  Archinos. 

--'  Rash  hashana  ii.  8-9.  Comp,  also  Eridnn  iii.  9  ;  Ktthuboth  xiii.  1-2  ; 
Edujoth  iii.  1-6  ;  Aboth  iii.  10  ;  Chullin  xi.  2  ;  Ohaloth  iii.  1 ;  Negaim  L  4. 

228  3ee  concerning  him,  Derenbourg,  pp.  342-314.  Bacher,  Monatsschr. 
1082,  pp.  211-215.  As  La  the  case  of  K.  Zadok,  so  probably  in  that  of 
Eleasar  ben  Zailok,  we  must  distinguish  between  two  scribes  of  the  same 
name,  an  older  and  a  younger  (so  Frankel,  Darke  hamishna,  pp.  98,  178  ; 
Bacher,  Monatsschr.  1882,  p.  215 ;  otherwise  Derenbourg,  p.  262,  n.  2, 
344,  n.  4).  The  younger  relates  in  the  name  of  R.  !Meir  (Kilajim  vii.  2), 
and  therefore  did  not  live  till  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  The  name 
of  both  is  according  to  the  best  authority  not  Eiieser  but  Eleasar  (Cod.  di 
Ro.^sl  138,  and  the  Cambridge  MS.  have  chiefly  "ITJ?!?). 

2-'9  Tosefta,  Challa  99.  9;  Shnbhath  iii.  15;  Join.  tob.  202.  28,  204. 
15-16  ;  Kiddushin  336.  13  (ed.  Zuckermandel). 

-'30  See  concerning  him,  Gnitz,  Gesch.  der  Juden,  iv.  60  sqq.,  427  sqq. 
Derenbourg,  pp.  386-395 ;  Hamburger,  ii.  526-529.  Bacher,  Monatsschr. 
1883,  pp.  63  sqq.,  116  sqq.,  209  sqq.  On  the  school  of  Ishmael,  D.  HoflFmann, 
Magazin  für  die  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  xi.  1884,  pp.  17-30. 

281  Edujoth  ii.  4. 


374  §  25.    SCKIBISM, 

Akiba.''^'  His  usual  dwelling  was  however  in  tlie  south  of 
Palestine  on  the  borders  of  Edom,  in  the  village  of  Kephar- 
Asis  {vtV  "123),  where  Joshua  once  visited  him/^^  He  seems, 
judging  from  his  age,  to  have  stood  in  nearer  relation  to  Tarphon 
and  Akiba  than  to  Joshua  ;  he  questioned  Joshua,  and  went 
"  behind  him"  (like  a  pupil),  while  he  was  on  equal  terms  with 
Tarphon  and  Akiba.^^*  It  would  be  of  special  interest,  if  his 
father  really  did,  as  tradition  asserts,  also  exercise  the  functions 
of  high  priest.  The  matter  is  however  more  than  questionable, 
and  only  so  far  probable  that  he '  was  of  priestly  descent.^^*'^ 
In  the  history  of  the  Halachah,  Ishmael  represents  a  special 
tendency :  in  o})position  to  the  artificial  and  arbitrary  exegesis 
of  Akiba,  he  adhered  more  to  the  simple  and  literal  meaning 
of  Scripture,  but  this  must  be  understood  in  only  a  very 
comparative  sense.^^^  The  laying  down  of  tlie  thirteen  Middoth, 
or  exegetic  rules  for  Halachic  exegesis,  is  ascribed  to  him.^^^ 
A  large  portion  of  the  exegetic  material  contained  in  two  of 
tlie  oldest  Midrashim  (Mechilta  on  Exodus,  and  Sißx  on 
Numbers  and  Deuteronomy)  comes  from  him  and  his  disciples, 
even  if  these  are  not,  as  tradition  asserts,  the  exclusive  pro- 
duction of  his  school.^^''     According  to  the    legend,  Ishmael, 

232  Joshua  and  Ishmael,  Kilajhn  vi.  4  ;  Aboda  sara  ii.  5  ;  Tosefta,  Para 
G38.  35.  Akiba  and  Ishmael,  Edvjotli  ii.  6  ;  Mikicaoih  vii.  1.  On  a  disputa- 
tion between  Tarphon,  Eleasar  ben  Asariah,  Ishmael  and  Joshua,  see  Jada- 
Jim  iv.  3.  But  that  Joshua  and  Ishmael  e.g.  did  not  live  in  the  same  place  is 
seen  from  Kilajim  vi.  4  ;  Tosefta,  Bechorolh  536.  24.  The  same  is  evident 
with  respect  to  Akiba  from  Eriibin  i.  2  ;  Tosefta,  Sahim  677.  6  (pupils  of 
Ishmael  are  reporting  to  Akiba  the  instruction  of  the  former). 

233  On  the  borders  of  Edom,  Kethuhoth  v.  8  ;  in  Kephar-Asis,  Kilajim 
vi.  4  ;  on  Kephar-Asis,  comp.  The  Survey  of  Western  Palestine^  Memoirs  by- 
Kitchener  and  Conder,  iii.  315,  348-350.  Miktoaoth  vii.  1,  according  to 
which  people  of  Medaba,  the  well-known  Moabite  town,  relate  concerning 
his  teaching,  points  to  labours  in  Peraea. 

23*  Compare  the  passages  cited  in  note  232.  With  respect  to  Joshua, 
Ahuda  sara  ii.  5  ;  Tosefta,  Para  638.  35.    Bacher,  JMonatssclir.  1883,  p.  64. 

L>34a  Derenbourg,  p.  387  sq. 

235  Comp,  briefly,  Hamburger,  p.  528.    Bacher,  Monatsschr.  1883,  p.  73  sq. 

-3'''  See  above,  p.  336  ;  and  Derenbourg,  pp.  389-391. 

-3''  The  tradition  is  reduced  to  its  true  proportion  e.g.  in  Bacher, 
Monatsschr.  1883,  p.  66  sq.     Comp,  also  on  the  two  Midrashim,  §  3,  above- 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  375 

like  most  of  his  contemporaries,  is  said  to  liave  died  as  a  martyr 
in  the  Barkochba  war.'^^ 

Among  those  scribes  who  also  had  intercourse  with 
Gamaliel,  Josliua  and  Elieser,  but  stood  more  or  less  in  a 
relation  of  discipleship  to  them,  by  far  the  most  celebrated 
was  K.  Akiba  ben  Josepli.'^^''  He  flourished  about  A.D.  1 1 0-135. 
II  is  relations  with  Gamaliel,  Joshua  and  Elieser  have  already 
been  spoken  of  (notes  199,  200,  207).  He  surpassed  them 
all  in  influence  and  reputation.  None  gathered  about  him  so 
large  a  number  of  })upils  ;  ^*"  none  was  so  glorified  by  tradition. 
It  is  scarcely  possible  however  to  pluck  the  historically  true 
from  the  garland  of  myths.  Not  even  the  place  of  his  labours 
is  known  with  certainty ;  from  the  Mishna  it  seems  to  have 
been  Lydda,^"  while  the  Baljylonian  Talmud  names  Bene- 
Barak  (pin ''JD).'^^  Such  sentences  of  his  as  have  been  handed 
down  are  not  only  characteristic  of  his  rigidly  legal  stand- 
point, but  also  show  that  he  made  dogmatic  and  philosophic 
questions  the  subjects  of  study.^"  Like  the  ancient  Zealots,  he 
combined  national  patriotism  with  religious  zeal.  Hence  he 
hailed  the  political  hero  Barkochba  as  the  Messiah,^"  and  is 
said  to  have  suffered  martyrdom  as  one  of  the  most  eminent 
sacrifices  for  the  national  cause.^^^  Of  his  exegetic  method  it 
can  only  be  said,  that  it  is  an  exaggeration  and  degeneration 
of  tluit  which  prevailed   among  the  Kabliis  in  general,  "it  is 

-3^  Grätz,  iv.  175.     Deronbourg,  p.  436. 

-^*  See  concerning  iiim  the  Hebrew  works  of  Fraukel,  Brlill  and  Weiss; 
also  Jost,  Gcsch.  des  Judentli.  ii.  b9  sqq.  himdsiu,  Monatsschi:  ßtr  Gesch. 
und  WisseiiscJi.  des  Judenth.  1854,  pp.  45-51,  81-93, 130-148.  Grätz,  Gesch. 
der  Juden,  iv.  53  sqq. ;  Ewald's  Gesch.  des  Volles  Israel,  vii.  376  sqq. 
Deronbourg,  pp.  329-331, 395  sqq.,  418  sqq.  Hamburger,  ii.  32-43.  Bacher, 
Monatsschr.  1883,  pp.  254  sqq.,  297  sqq.,  347  s.iq.,  419  sqq.,  433  sqq. 
Gastfreund,  Bioijraphledes  Tanaiten  lluhl  Akiha  (in  Hebrew),  Lembergl871. 

^•'f*  Derenbourg,  p.  395  sq.  -"   Rush  has/idiia  i.  6. 

2*2  Sanhedrin  32b ;  Derenbourg,  pp.  307,  395. 

-'3  The  sentences,  Almth  iii.  13-16.  Among  them.  iii.  15,  is  the  sjiying 
njinj  mt^'ini  "lav  ^an,  "Everything  is  watched  (by  God),  but  freedom  is 
granted  (to  men).' 

-•"  Derenbourg,  p.  425  scj. 

'■'*^  Grätz,  iv.  176,  177.     Derenbuurg,  p.  436.     Bacher,  1883,  p.  256. 


376  §  25.    SCKIBISM. 

the  art  of  deducing  heaps  of  Halachoth  from  every  jot  of  the 
law."^^''  To  attain  this,  the  principle  was  acted  on,  that  no 
word  of  the  text  was  superfluous,  that  even  the  slightest,  the 
most  apparently  superfluous  elements  of  the  text  contain  the 
most  important  truths.^"  It  is  of  much  more  value  than  these 
exegetical  tricks,  and  of  real  epoch-making  importance  in 
the  history  of  Jewish  law,  that  in  the  time  of  Akiba, 
and  probably  under  his  direction,  the  Halachah,  which  had 
hitherto  been  only  orally  propagated,  was  for  the  first  time 
codified.  The  various  materials  were  arranged  according  to 
the  point  of  view  of  their  actual  matter,  and  what  was  current 
law  was  recorded  in  writing  together  with  adductions  of  the 
divergent  views  of  all  the  more  eminent  scribes.  This  work 
forms  the  foundation  of  the  Mishna  of  E.  Judah  ha-Nasi,  which 
has  been  preserved  to  us.^*^ 

E.  Tarphon,  a  priestly  scribe,  who  is  said  to  have  been  very 
much  in  earnest  about  his  priestly  duties  and  privileges,  so 
far  as  this  was  possible  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple, 
was  a  contemporary  of  Akiba."''^  He  lived  at  Lydda,^^"  and 
was  chiefly  in  intercourse  with  Akiba,^''^  but  took  part  in  a 

^-iß  Bacher,  MonaUsclir.  1883,  p.  254  sq. 

-*"  Thus  e.(j.  the  particle  ns  is  said  to  indicate,  that  besides  the  object 
mentioned,  something  else  is  also  intended  together  with  it.  In  tlie  account 
(jf  the  creation  QVO'J'n  nx  is  used,  because  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  are  also 
meant  (Wünsche,  BcresJdtli  rahba,  p.  6  sq.).  ComiJ.  Derenbourg,  p.  397. 
The  proselyte  Aquila  tried  to  be  faithful  to  this  exegetical  principle  by 
translating  in  his  Greek  version  of  the  Bible  cvu  zov  ovpxuou  x-ai  avv  T'/iu 
-/vi'j,  at  which  Jerome  vents  his  just  scorn  (^Epist.  bl  ad  Pammachium,  c.  11, 
0pp.  de  Vallarsi,  i.  316).  Comp,  also,  on  Aquila  as  a  disciple  of  Akiba, 
Hieronymus,  Comment,  in  Jes.  viii.  11  sqq.  (Vallarsi,  iv.  122):  Akibas  quern 
magistrum  Aquilae  proselyti  autumant.     Grätz,  Gesch.  der  Juden,  iv.  437. 

^i*^  That  an  older  work  of  the  time  of  Akiba  is  the  foundation  of  our 
present  Mishna,  may  be  inferred  almost  with  certainty  from  its  contents. 
That  the  work  in  question  was  edited  by  Akiba  himself  may  also  be  accepted 
as  probable  from  the  testimony  of  Epiphanius  (heier.  33.  9).  For  further 
particulars,  see  §  3.     Comp,  also  Derenbourg,  pp.  399-401. 

-*9  See  in  general,  Derenbourg,  pp.  376-383.  Hamburger,  ii.  1196  sq. 
Bacher,  Monatssclir.  1883,  pp.  497-507. 

-^0  Taanilli  iii.  9  ;  Baha  mcziei  iv.  3. 

-51  Tcrumoth  iv.  5,  ix.  2  ;  Neisir  vi.  6  ;  BccliorolJi  iv.  4  ;  KcritJioth  v.  2-3, 
To.sefta,  Mikivcwth,  GÖ4.  4,  660.  33. 


§  25.    SCRIBISM.  377 

disputation  with  Eleasar  ben  Asariali,  Ishmael  and  Joshua."^ 
Subsequent  tradition  makes  him,  like  all  the  scribes  of  his 
time,  a  martyr  in  the  Barkochba  war."^^  As  this  is  however 
of  just  the  same  value  as  the  Christian  tradition,  which  makes 
all  the  apostles  martyrs,  he  may  very  well  be  identical  with 
that  Trypho  with  whom  Justin  met,  and  who  said  of  himself 
that  he  had  fled  from  Palestine  on  account  of  the  war,^^*  It 
is  peculiar  that  hard  words  against  the  Gospels  and  against 
the  Christian  faith  should  have  been  reported  exactly  of 
him.=^" 

Beside  E.  Tarphon  there  remain  to  be  mentioned  as  con- 
temporaries of  E.  Akiba,  E.  Johanan  ben  Nuri,  who  lived 
also  in  the  time  of  Gamaliel  II.,  Joshua  and  Elieser,  but  is 
most  frequently  spoken  of  as  in  intercourse  with  Akiba  ;^^ 
E.  Simon  ben  Asai,  or  merely  Ben  Asai,  who  is  famed  for 

2^2  Jadajim  iv.  3.  ^^^  Grätz,  iv.  179.     Deronbourg,  p.  436. 

^''■'  Justin.  Dial.  c.  TrypJione,  c.  1  :  siul  os  'Eßpuioi  ix,  -Trepnof^.ij:, 
(f!V'/uv  rov  uuv  yevofisuov  vo'hsf^.Q'j,  Iv  rn  'EA7i«3;  x«i  rr,  Y^oolvda  roc 
vfJKhai,  liayuv.  The  names  pD")t3  aud  Tpv<pav  are  identical,  for  it  cannot 
be  proved  that  the  former  is  a  genuine  Semitic  name,  although,  according 
to  its  form,  this  is  possible.  The  time  too  exactly  agrees.  Hence  the 
identity  of  R.  Tarphon  with  Justin's  Trypho  has  been  accepted  by  many 
scholars.     See  Wolf,  Bihliothcca  Jlebraea,  ii.  837. 

255  He  said  that  the  Gospels  ought  to  be  burned  although  they  contained  the 
name  of  God  (Shabhath  116'i ;  Derenbourg,  p.  379  sq.  ;  Bacher,  1883,  p.  506). 
On  account  of  the  great  interest  of  R.  Tarphon  to  Christian  theologians, 
I  here  give  all  the  passages  of  the  Mishna  in  which  he  is  named:  Berachoth 
i.  3,  vi.  8  ;  Pea  iii.  6  ;  Kilajim  v.  8 ;  Tervmoth  iv.  5,  ix.  2  ;  Maaseroth  iii.  9  ; 
Maaser  sheni  ii.  4,  9  ;  Shabhath  ii.  2  ;  Erithiii  iv.  4 ;  Pesachim  x.  6  ;  Sukka 
iii.  4  ;  Beza  ÜL  5  ;  Taanith  iii.  9  ;  Jebamoth  xv.  6-7 ;  Kethuboth  v.  2,  vii.  6, 
ix.  2,  3  ;  Nedarim  vi.  6  ;  Nasir  v.  5,  vi.  6  ;  Kiddushin  iii.  13  ;  Baba  kamma 
iL  5;  Baba  mezia  ii.  7,  iv.  3;  Makkoth  i.  10;  Edujoth  i.  10;  Aboth  ii. 
15-16 ;  Sebachim  x.  8,  xi.  7 ;  Menachoth  xii.  5 ;  Bechoroth  ii.  6-9,  iv.  4  ; 
Kerithoth  v.  2-3  ;  Kelim  xi.  4,  7,  xxv.  7  ;  Ohaloth  xiii.  3,  xvl  1  ;  Para  i.  3  ; 
Mikioaoth  x.  5 ;  Machshirin  v.  4  ;  Jadajim  iv.  3.  For  the  passages  iu  the 
Tosefta,  see  the  index  to  Zuckermanders  edition. 

256  In  the  time  of  Gamaliel,  Rosh  hashana  148.  In  the  time  of  Joshua, 
Tosefta,  Taanith  217.  14.  In  the  time  of  Elieser,  Tosefta,  Orla  45.  1. 
Kelim  575.  18,  20.  In  association  with  Akiba,  Rosh  hashaua  iv.  5 ; 
Bechoroth  vi.  6 ;  Temitrn  i.  1 ;  Ukziu  iii.  5.  Tosefta,  Pesarhim  155.  27. 
Comp,  in  general,  Hamburger,  ii.  490  sq.  Bacher,  Mouatsschr.  1883, 
p.  537  sq. 

DIV.  II.  VOL.  I.  2  A  2 


378  §  25.    SCEIBISM. 

being  specially  indefatigable  in  study ;  ^'^  K.  Johanan  ben 
Beroka,  who  was  an  associate  of  Joshua  and  Johanan  ben 
Nuri ;  ^^*  K,  Joses  the  Galilean,  who  is  mentioned  as  the  con- 
temporary of  Eleasar  ben  Asariah,  Tarphon  and  Akiba ;  ^"^  E. 
Simon  ben  Nannos,  or  only  Ben  Nannos,  also  a  contemporary 
of  Tarphon  and  Akiba.^^ 

To  the  same  period  belongs  also  Abba  Saul,  who  indeed 
gives  an  account  even  of  a  saying  of  Johanan  ben  Sakkai,  and 
is  repeatedly  quoted  as  an  authority  concerning  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  temple,  but  cannot  have  been  of,  earlier  date  than 
Akiba,  since  he  frequently  reports  his  sayings  also.^**^  Also 
E.  Judah  ben  Bethera.  who  is  mentioned  on  the  one  hand  as 

'^^  Contemporaries  of  Akiba,  Shekalim  iv.  6  ;  Joma  ii.  3  ;  Taanith  iv.  4  ; 
Baba  hathra  'vs..  10.  It  was  said  of  him :  "  Since  the  death  of  Ben  Asai 
there  are  no  longer  any  indefatigable  students"  (^Sota  ix.  15:  D''3'^pK', 
properly,  waking  ones,  i.e.  untiringly  studying  ones).  Some  sentences  of 
his  in  Aboth  iv.  2-3.  Comp,  in  general,  Hamburger,  ii.  1119-1121. 
Bacher,  Monatsschr.  1884,  pp.  173-187,  225  sq. 

258  With  Joshua,  Tosefta,  Sota  307.  7.  With  Johanan  ben  NurL 
Tosefta  Terumoih  38.  15.  In  the  Mishna,  Johanan  ben  Beroka  is 
mentioned,  Eruhin  viii.  2,  x.  15  ;  Pesachim  vii.  9 ;  Jebavioth  vi.  6  ; 
Kethuboth  ii.  1 ;  Baba  kamnia  x.  2 ;  Baba  baihra  viii.  5 ;  Shehuoth  vii.  7  ; 
Aboth  iv.  4 ;  Bechoroih  viii.  10 ;  Kelim  xvii.  11.  Comp,  also  Bacher, 
Monatsschr.  1884,  p.  208  sq. 

259  With  these  three,  Jer.  Gittln  ix.  1  (Derenboiu-g,  p.  368).  With  Akiba 
and  Tarphon,  Tosefta,  Mikwaoth  660.  32.  He  relates  also  in  the  name  of 
Johanan  ben  Nuri,  Tosefta,  Orla  45.  1.  See  in  general.  Hamburger,  ii. 
499-502.     Bacher,  Monatsschr.  1883,  pp.  507-513,  529-536. 

260  See  especially  Tosefta,  Mikwaoth  660.  33.  We  find  him  associated 
with  Ishmael,  Baba  bathra  x.  8.  He  is  mentioned  by  his  full  name  Simon 
ben  Nannos  (j/«:/»oj= dwarf),  Bikkurim  iii.  9;  Shabbath  xvL  5;  Erubin 
ix.  15  ;  Baba  bathra  x.  8  ;  Menachoth  iv.  3.  Only  as  Ben  Nannos,  Kethu- 
both X.  5 ;  Gitlin  viii.  10 ;  Baba  bathra  vii.  3,  x.  8 ;  Shabbath  vii.  5. 

261  On  a  saying  of  Johanan  ben  Sakkai,  Aboth  ii.  8.  On  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  temple,  Middoth  ii.  5 ;  also  Menachoth  viii.  3,  xi.  5.  On 
sayings  of  Akiba,  Tosefta,  Kilajim  79,  9  ;  Sanhedrin  433.  27.  Comp, 
also  Pea  viii.  5  ;  Kilajim  ii.  3  ;  Shabbath  xxiii.  3  ;  Shekalim  iv.  2  ;  Beza  iii. 
8 ;  Kethuboth  vii.  6  ;  Nedarim  vi.  5 ;  Gittin  v.  4  ;  Kiddushin  iv.  2  ;  Baba 
viezia  iv.  12,  vL  7  ;  Baba  bathra  ii.  7,  13  ;  Sanhedrin  x.  1  ;  Makkoth  ii.  2. 
Lewy,  Ueber  einige  Fragmente  des  Mischna  des  Abba  Saul,  Berlin  1876 
(comp.  Magazin  für  die  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  iv.  1877,  pp.  114-120  ; 
Monatsschr.  für  Gesch.  und  Wissensch.  des  Judenth.  1878,  pp.  187-192, 
227-235). 


§  25.    SCEIBISM.  379 

a  contemporary  of  Elieser,  on  the  other  as  a  contemporary  of 
li.  Meir,  and  who  must  consequently  have  flourished  in  the 
period  between  the  two,  i.e.  in  the  time  of  Akiba,"^ 

ß.  Judah,  E,  Joses,  R.  Meir  and  R.  Simon,  men  of  the 
next  generation,  are  more  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Mishna 
than  all  those  hitherto  named.  Their  labours  however, 
having  taken  place  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
fall  outside  the  limits  of  the  period  here  dealt  with. 

-*2  Contemporary  of  Elieser,  Negaim  ix.  3,  xi.  7.  Contemporary  of 
Meir,  Tosefta,  Nasir  290.  14.  Comp,  also  on  the  chronology,  Pea  iii.  6 ; 
Pesachim  iii.  3  ;  Edujoth  viii.  3  ;  Kclim  ii.  4  ;  Olialoth  xi.  7.  Tosefta, 
Jebamoth  255.  28.    See  iu  general,  Bacher,  Monalsschr.  1884,  pp.  76-81. 


END  OF  DIV.  ir.  VOL.  L 


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